It’s still unclear at this time if these changes are the direct result of DMA regulations or if they are temporary or permanent. Google may still be testing these changes, with more adjustments to come.
Yet the impacts are real. As it stands now, the winners from DMA regulations are the gatekeepers, not hotels or consumers. Recent changes to hotel search pages have increased OTA visibility and Google’s ad revenue, while hotels have lower visibility, receive less organic traffic, and face higher distribution costs.
