Google Maps it has been the most popular geographic internet service in the world for years now. The software, until a few days ago, was the first result that appeared on your screen, whatever the destination you wanted to reach. For some days, however, this has no longer been the case. The reason for this is to be found in a European regulation called Digital Markets Act (DMA), in force from 2022 but effective starting today, 7 March 2024. Here is what it establishes and what the consequences are.
What the Digital Markets Act (DMA) establishes
In short, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) states that large European platforms, also calledgatekeepers“, they must act in a regime of fair competitionthus avoiding imposing an oligopoly, and of transparency.
Those who have been “hit” by this regulation, in particular, have been companies such as Alphabet (Google), Apple, Meta (WhatsApp), etc., all of which have something in common, namely Billionaire turnover and millions of users across Europe (at least 45 million every month in the territory).
To comply with the new rules, therefore, companies have had to make some changes to their operation, some visible, others less so. One of the most impactful rules, for example, forces these companies to stop promote their services to the detriment of those of others and to also give visibility to competitors.
How Google Maps is changing
As explained, Google falls perfectly within the scope of the companies targeted by the DMA and has therefore been called to adapt. Among other things, in particular, the company had to “decouple” Maps from your search engine – Google Search – in order to allow fairer competition to its direct competitors.
However, there is no need to despair, there is in fact a method to ensure that Google Maps returns to the top of the results every time you search for an address. To achieve this, it is enough connect to the console of your Google accountgo to the “Data and Privacy” and then into “Manage connected services“. Within this subsection, simply press on the Google Maps box and confirm your choice, then you’re done. If you change your mind at a later time, just repeat the process in reverse.