Last updated: 1 October 2026
Google Search in the European Economic Area is no longer developing on exactly the same track as Search outside the EEA.
Digital Markets Act enforcement, new Google Search result formats, a separate Search-data sharing process and fresh court challenges are moving at the same time.
That makes the story easy to misread.
This tracker separates what is live, what is officially decided, what is being challenged, and what is still upcoming.
NEMO Europe will update this page when the European Commission, Google or the EU courts materially change the position.
Current status
LIVE — EEA-specific Search experiences
Google now documents aggregator units and supplier units for users in the EEA across products, hotels, flights, ground transportation and local-business queries.
The top-ranked eligible aggregator is expanded by default inside the aggregator unit. Clicks within that unit lead to the aggregator’s website.
Supplier units are designed for direct providers. Google says the supplier unit appears alongside an aggregator unit and only appears when an aggregator unit is present.
DECIDED — Google Search self-preferencing
On 23 July 2026, the European Commission found Google non-compliant with the DMA over favourable treatment of its own services in Google Search.
The Commission imposed a €460 million fine for the Search infringement.
The Commission said the conduct involved areas including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results.
DECIDED — Search-data sharing specification
On 16 July 2026, the Commission adopted final measures specifying how Google must make anonymised Search data available to eligible third-party online search engines under Article 6(11) of the DMA.
The Commission says eligible beneficiaries can include AI chatbots offering search functionality.
The measures cover categories of ranking, query, click and view data, subject to anonymisation and other safeguards.
They do not require Google to share its Search algorithms.
PENDING — EU court proceedings
The General Court register shows two pending cases filed by Alphabet and Google Ireland against the European Commission on 28 September 2026:
- T-638/26 — Alphabet and Google Ireland v Commission
- T-639/26 — Alphabet and Google Ireland v Commission
The register also shows:
- T-638/26 R — interim-relief proceedings
The existence of an appeal should not by itself be interpreted as a ruling against the Commission’s measures. The cases remain pending.
Timeline
| Date | Development | NEMO status |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Jan 2026 | Commission opens proceedings on Google Search-data sharing | Completed |
| 16 Jul 2026 | Commission adopts final Search-data sharing specification | Decided |
| 23 Jul 2026 | Commission finds Google Search self-preferencing non-compliant and imposes €460M Search fine | Decided |
| End Aug 2026 | Search-data eligibility form and beneficiary information milestone | Scheduled milestone |
| 8 Sep 2026 | Google publishes central documentation for regional Search differences | Live |
| Sep 2026 | Template Search-data licence agreements, test samples and cost information milestone | Scheduled milestone |
| 18 Sep 2026 | Google documentation adds local-business queries to aggregator and supplier units | Live |
| 28 Sep 2026 | T-638/26 and T-639/26 filed at the General Court | Pending |
| 28 Sep 2026 | T-638/26 R interim-relief proceeding filed | Pending |
| Nov 2026 | Alphabet is due to finalise the anonymised Search dataset and submit technical information to the Commission | Upcoming |
| Jan 2027 | Alphabet is due to finalise its pricing offer for eligible beneficiaries | Upcoming |
There are two different Google Search DMA stories
The most important distinction is that Google’s European Search changes are not one single proceeding.
1. Search self-preferencing
The Commission’s 23 July decision concerns how Google treats its own services compared with competing services in Search.
The Commission says gatekeepers cannot rank their own services more favourably than comparable third-party services and must use transparent, fair and non-discriminatory ranking conditions.
This is the regulatory track most directly connected to how European commercial Search results are being presented.
2. Search-data access
The separate Article 6(11) process concerns access to Search data.
The Commission says eligible third-party search engines can receive anonymised data that Google itself collects and uses to improve Search, including certain query, ranking, click and view information.
The Commission explicitly includes qualifying AI chatbots with search functionality among potential beneficiaries.
This is not the same thing as forcing Google to disclose its ranking algorithm.
What changed in Google’s EEA Search documentation?
Google added a central “Regional differences in Search experience” document on 8 September.
For the EEA, it currently lists:
- aggregator units;
- supplier units;
- ecosystem carousels;
- job-site features;
- structured-data carousels.
The commercial Search changes are particularly important because Google’s aggregator unit covers:
- products;
- hotels;
- flights;
- ground transportation;
- local businesses.
Google says eligible aggregators can include Comparison Shopping Services, Vertical Search Services, online travel agencies, metasearch engines and directories.
For an aggregator unit, the top-ranked provider is expanded by default.
A user can select another eligible aggregator where alternatives are available.
Clicks within the unit go directly to the selected aggregator.
Local Search joined the change on 18 September
Google updated its Search documentation on 18 September to add local-business queries to the aggregator and supplier units.
That means the EEA-specific structure is not limited to ecommerce and travel.
It can also affect commercial local queries.
Direct businesses can be eligible for supplier units using information available through normal web crawling, although Google says those supplier results only appear when an aggregator unit is present.
For marketers, that makes the relationship between direct businesses, directories and Google itself worth monitoring separately from the traditional local-search framework.
What happens next with Search data?
The Commission has published a staged implementation timetable.
November 2026
Alphabet is due to:
- finalise the anonymised Search dataset;
- provide technical information about sharing latency;
- provide information about personal-data detection measures.
January 2027
Alphabet is due to:
- finalise its pricing offer;
- communicate that offer to the Commission and eligible third-party online search engines.
These are implementation milestones, not evidence that rival search engines or AI assistants have already received the data.
NEMO will distinguish between a regulatory deadline and an actually operating data feed.
Why marketers should care
There are three separate things worth monitoring.
Search interface
What does Google actually display for a commercial query in an EEA country?
The answer can now differ structurally from markets outside the EEA.
Traffic
A Search-interface change does not automatically prove a traffic or revenue loss.
Changes in clicks, conversions and revenue need to be measured separately.
Competition and AI Search
The Search-data specification creates the possibility that qualifying rival search engines and AI-search products gain access to anonymised Google Search behavioural data.
Whether that materially changes their answers, citations or recommendations is a future measurement question.
It should not be treated as an established effect today.
NEMO watchlist
We are watching for:
- Commission updates on Google’s Search compliance;
- changes to Google’s EEA aggregator and supplier documentation;
- court developments in T-638/26, T-638/26 R and T-639/26;
- November Search-data implementation milestones;
- January 2027 pricing and access developments;
- changes to AI Overviews and AI Mode in the EEA;
- measurable differences between EEA and non-EEA commercial Search experiences.
Source status
This tracker prioritises official documents.
Claims about observed Search-result frequency, traffic loss, click-through rates or revenue effects will be labelled separately when they come from third-party trackers, individual companies or practitioner observations.
NEMO will not treat a feature observed in one country or query sample as representative of the entire EEA without supporting evidence.
Primary sources
European Commission — Google DMA non-compliance decision, 23 July 2026
https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/commission-fines-google-eur890-million-breaches-digital-markets-act-2026-07-23_en
European Commission — Alphabet Search-data specification proceedings
https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/businesses-portal/data-access/alphabet-specification-proceedings-sharing-google-search-data_en
European Commission — DMA case register
https://digital-markets-act-cases.ec.europa.eu/
Google Search Central — Regional differences in Search experience
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/aggregator-features
Google Search Central — Aggregator unit
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/aggregator-unit
Google Search Central — Supplier unit
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/supplier-unit
Google Search Central — documentation updates
https://developers.google.com/search/updates
Court of Justice of the European Union — InfoCuria
https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/