Google is one of the companies called upon to adapt to the principles and obligations established under European legislation DMA (Digital Markets Act). As highlighted in the past, the DMA aims to ensure a higher degree of competition in Europe’s digital markets by preventing large companies from abusing their market power. The provision focuses on the so-called gatekeepers, i.e. the large digital platforms which provide central services such as online search engines, app stores and messaging services.
The gatekeeper “label” is contested by Apple, Meta and TikTok, at least for some of their products and services. So much so that the companies have decided to sue none other than the European Commissionpromoter of a stringent regulation such as the DMA.
Among obligations foreseen there are the commitment to inform the Commission of any acquisition project, guarantee interoperability with competing services, avoid treating commercial users in a discriminatory way, refrain from prohibiting the removal of applications pre-installed on devices, allow the use of stores and alternative payment methods, do not track users outside the platforms (unless with the explicit consent of the interested parties).
Google, like other entities gatekeeperis preparing for a series of changes that will be applied to its services by March 6, 2024last date indicated by the European Commission to comply with the requirements contained in the DMA.
Data sharing between Google services
Google, like other companies, collects and shares data among its services. According to the provisions of the DMA, European users must from now on provide theirs consent for this form of sharing. By default, data will therefore no longer be exchanged between services such as Search, YouTube, Google Play, Advertising Services, Chrome, Google Shopping, Google Maps.
The Mountain View company would like to point out that if the user does not give his consent, some features may be limited or unavailable. At the moment, however, the company led by Sundar Pichai refrains from providing precise information.
Changes to search results (SERP)
The lawyers of the company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin also explain that users resident in the European Union who make searches with purchase intentionsfor example for a hotel or an electronic product, will see a new box appear on the results page (SERP, search engine results page).
The new tool aims to provide references to comparison sites of prices and features available throughout the Web. The same unit will also make available query shortcuts deemed most useful at the top of the search page. A measure that should help users refine their searches.
Google also intends to add dedicated spaces for comparison sites and for purchasing a good or service directly at the source. In this way the Search will be able to provide a greater level of detail and enable users to choose even more freely. Some properties of the Mountain View company, such as Google Flights, will consequently be removed from search results.
Browser and search engine selection screens
Already partly used on Android, European users will see screens appear on their mobile devices as well as on Google Chrome, regardless of the platform used. browser choice and your default search engine.
Google explains that, with a view to promoting free competition, each Android and Chrome user will receive a selection of browsers and search engine popular in the region in which it resides. With a simple tap or click, you can change your preferences. As already done by Microsoft at the time of ballot screenthe suggestions are shown in random order.
Improvements to data export and portability
The DMA places a lot of emphasis on interoperability and the possibility for end users to transfer their data, without limits, from one service to another. The idea is to avoid situations of vendor lock-inwhere – for various reasons – customers are stuck within a single provider’s platforms because, for example, it is not easy to transfer data elsewhere or this is too expensive.
To get ahead of the times, Google Cloud has eliminated exit costs and it will soon be possible for all users to access aAPI (Application Programming Interface) for the data transfer on other platforms.
We already know Google Takeout, the service that allows users to export data from the entire ecosystem of the Mountain View company into a single compressed file. The tool is designed to allow users to download a copy of their information, offering greater transparency and control over digital information. Takeout has improved a lot over the years and in our other articles we have seen how to transfer emails elsewhere (you can also do it directly with the IMAP protocol), photos, files stored in Drive, chats, notes, browser data and so on.
Even making an “ad hoc” API available represents an epochal change: it means that Google, avoiding setting any limits, will offer a tool to move data from one platform to another (including third-party ones). In fact, with a dedicated API, users can access the information stored on Google servers and manage it directly.