Google's compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act is concentrating search market power in ways that could disproportionately hurt Europe's independent hotels, B&Bs and small accommodation providers, according to analysis published by Travel Tomorrow.

The DMA, the EU's competition regulation targeting large online platforms, applies directly to Google as a designated gatekeeper. Compliance requires Google to alter how its search service ranks and displays results — including the travel-related queries on which European hospitality depends.

Travel Tomorrow framed the issue in a piece headlined "Why Google's DMA compliance must not come at the expense of Europe's small hospitality operators," positioning the concern with implementation choices rather than with the regulation itself.

Why search visibility matters so much for small operators

European hospitality is overwhelmingly composed of small and micro-enterprises. Independent hotels, family-run guesthouses, B&Bs, boutique properties and short-let hosts account for the majority of accommodation providers across the bloc. Most operate with limited marketing budgets, small in-house teams and no dedicated SEO function.

Their primary acquisition channel is the unpaid Google search result — the links that appear below paid placements and aggregator listings when a traveler searches for accommodation in a city or region. A drop of several positions in those organic rankings can materially reduce direct bookings, which are the lifeblood of smaller operators because they avoid the commission costs charged by online travel agencies.

How DMA implementation could shift those rankings

DMA-mandated interface and ranking changes are reshaping how travel-related queries are resolved. New vertical formats, expanded ad inventory and reconfigured knowledge panels can compress the space available for organic listings from independent operators. Large online travel platforms and major chains, which can absorb ranking volatility through branded search advertising and direct-app ecosystems, are better positioned to defend visibility under the new formats than an independent operator running a single-property website.

What independent operators and their associations are pushing for

Trade groups representing independent hoteliers want the European Commission to engage directly with hospitality stakeholders as it monitors Google's compliance, and to weigh small-business discoverability in future non-compliance findings. Their underlying argument: in travel search specifically, the DMA's competition goals and the operator-level distributional outcome are not separable. Visibility is, for small hospitality, a market-access question.

What happens next

The European Commission's DMA case file on Google remains open. Continued compliance monitoring, further filings and additional non-compliance decisions are expected as enforcement progresses. The next practical test will be any Commission guidance or ruling on vertical search presentation, which will determine whether DMA implementation can be delivered without degrading the visibility of Europe's smallest accommodation providers.