Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL) has warned EU regulators that cracking down on it and other U.S. big tech rivals is having a negative effect on Europeans such as making their summer holidays more expensive.
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It said today that the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which has already fined a number of U.S. tech groups on antitrust or competition grounds is hampering innovation to the detriment of European users and businesses.
It wants the EU to give more detailed guidance to help it comply with the rules. “We remain genuinely concerned about real world consequences of the DMA, which are leading to worse online products and experiences for Europeans,” Google’s lawyer Clare Kelly told a workshop organised by the European Commission.
Kelly said changes implemented by Google to date after discussions with the Commission and its critics have resulted in European users paying more for travel tickets as they cannot directly access airline sites.
Kelly said European airlines, hotels and restaurants have reported up to a 30% loss in direct booking traffic, while users have complained about “clunky workarounds.”
Spell it Out
Fellow Google lawyer Oliver Bethell asked regulators to spell out in detail what the company needs to do. “If we can understand precisely what compliance looks like, not just in theory, but taking account of on the ground experience, we can launch compliant services quickly and confidently across the EEA,” he said.
Google is under pressure to address charges under the EU’s Digital Markets Act that it favours its own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and Google Flights over rivals. The charges may result in fines of as much as 10% of its global annual revenue.
Earlier this month, Google proposed more changes to its search results to better showcase rival products, but critics say these still do not ensure a level playing field.
Rivals such as Apple (AAPL) and Meta (META) have recently been fined by the EU on antitrust grounds.
Google’s comments come just a day after the EU said digital regulations were not part of trade talks with the U.S.
Is GOOGL a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, GOOGL has a Strong Buy consensus based on 30 Buy and 9 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $250. GOOGL stock’s consensus price target is $200.06 implying a 13.52% upside.
