Google EU Antitrust Settlement Means Expedia, Booking.com and Yelp Get Equal Weight in Search
Skift Take
Kudos to the European Union for ensuring that Google doesn't wield its market power with excessive advantage in promoting its own services. The U.S. FTC's decision to avoid taking similar actions is a regulatory blemish, although the EU agreement could put more pressure on the FTC to take another look at these issues.
Google's travel rivals in Europe, including Expedia, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Microsoft and Yelp, won a landmark antitrust settlement as Google has agreed to display the services of three rivals when Google displays its own services for hotels, restaurants, and presumably flights, for example.
Google's settlement with the EU -- which stands in stark contrast to the free pass that the search giant got from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last year -- is not travel-specific, and applies to the services of rivals in everything from products/shopping to hotels and restaurants.
Under the settlement, which came after complaints from numerous competitors including Expe
