On 8 September 2026, Google overhauled its search results across the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company itself calls this the largest drop in quality of service in its 29-year history. For a Belgian SME that relies on Google to be found, the mechanics of visibility just shifted.
1. What changed on 8 September
In search results seen from Belgium, a specialised comparison service, Booking.com or Expedia for hotels, for example, now appears at the top of the page, followed by two more with fewer details, then a carousel of businesses with key information, such as real-time prices, stripped out. Businesses listed with just a link to their site, a phone number and an address lose visibility to these intermediaries. Rankings are still determined by Google's algorithm.
2. Why Google is complying, reluctantly
In July 2026, the European Commission hit Google with two DMA fines totalling 890 million euros: 430 million euros for favouring its own services (Google Flights, Google Hotels) over rival comparison sites, and 460 million euros for restricting how developers inform users on Google Play. EU sanctions against Google now exceed 10 billion euros in total. Nick Fox, Google's head of search, told Reuters the changes represent the largest reduction in quality of service in the search engine's 29-year history.
3. The concrete impact for businesses visible on Google
In similar tests run in 2024, Google already measured a drop of more than 10% in direct traffic to hotel websites, a decline affecting hundreds of thousands of European businesses, while traffic to intermediaries stayed flat. Travel is the first sector affected by the new format, but the principle applies to any business that relies on a simple organic link to attract customers: the more room a comparison site, marketplace or review platform takes up in the results, the less room your direct link gets.
The AI lens, humans first
An AI tool can continuously monitor your Google rankings, flag a drop in clicks or impressions in Search Console, and alert you the moment a new result format appears for your queries. But deciding how to respond, strengthening technical SEO, reworking the site structure, or shifting budget toward paid search, remains a strategic call. AI executes the monitoring. Expertise decides the response, and adjusts the strategy as Google's results keep evolving.
This week
Open Google Search Console and compare clicks and impressions before and after 8 September, category by category. Also check that your Google Business Profile is complete: hours, category, photos and recent reviews.
With Vistalaro Build, we audit your site's technical structure and structured data so you stay well positioned, whatever format Google displays. With Vistalaro Pilot, your dedicated marketer tracks these shifts and continuously adjusts your visibility strategy, SEO, local and paid, rather than reviewing it once a year.
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