Consider the Data: What the DMA really means for Hotels
In a previous post, we shed light on the fact that Google’s bombastic claims about the DMA’s supposedly negative impact on hotels do not stand up to closer scrutiny. Let’s now look beyond figures taken conveniently out of context and consider the entire picture: what has the DMA actually meant for hotels’ traffic from Google and hotel bookings concretely?
The Data Contradicts Google’s Narrative
As we mentioned in our previous post, Google claims that “European businesses like hotels, travel services, and restaurants have lost up to 30% of online traffic since the DMA obligations became applicable”. This drop should be visible in the data describing the share of hotel and intermediary traffic (online channel share) and the growth rate data for 2024.
However, data compiled by Phocuswright regarding Europe shows direct hotel bookings actually increased their market share compared to online intermediaries between 2023 and 2024.
In addition, the growth rate of the hotel direct channel more than tripled from 2023 to 2024 (specifically from 0.36% growth to 1.30% growth).
This Isn’t Really About Hotels for Google; It’s About Self-Preferencing
The data shows that the DMA doesn’t penalize hotels or reduce their visibility. It simply requires Google to stop giving its own hotel search tools preferential placement on the search engine results page.
The real issue is that Google long positioned its own hotel modules above organic results, steering users toward its ecosystem and keeping competition out. The DMA seeks to rebalance that unfair advantage to open up more ways than Google for hotels to gain customers. Once Google’s unfair advantages are rolled back, visibility should rebalance. And the data shows that hotels’ direct channels are gaining ground.
Continuing to self-preference sits at the heart of Google’s strategy: it keeps users in its walled garden and drives ad revenue. Its claim that the DMA and fair competition “hurt” hotels is less about protecting the industry and more about protecting its own privileged position.
