Online Travel to Google: Search Changes Are Geared to Create Conflict, Political Backlash

A group advocating "neutral search," including more than 40 online travel and tour companies, drafted a letter to the European Commission blasting Google's recent search changes as designed to create conflict between online travel companies and suppliers, and to generate political backlash against the Digital Markets Act.

Earlier this week, Google began a "short test" in three European countries that produces travel search results with no Google Maps, and just the old-school "10 blue links."

Skift obtained the Initiative for Neutral Search's draft letter responding to those changes. The letter, addressed to the EC's DMA Enforcement Team, is being circulated among the group's roughly 150 members for input on language changes.

The cross-industry group consists mainly of vertical search engines — in travel think online travel agencies and metasearch firms — and some 30 travel companies plus the 16-member EU Travel Tech