Google no longer shows the vacation rentals box in the EU: what it means for you
Since 8 September 2026, guests searching Google from the EU no longer see a dedicated vacation rentals box. What changed, who it affects and what to check.
Since 8 September 2026, guests searching Google from countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) no longer see the dedicated box with vacation rentals, the one with photos, prices and a map. Google removed it after the European Commission fined it for favouring its own services. If that box was bringing you enquiries or direct bookings, that channel has effectively disappeared for European guests.
what exactly changed
On 23 July 2026, the European Commission fined Google a total of 890 million euros for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Of that, 460 million euros relates to Google Search: the Commission found that Google shows its own services, including hotels, more prominently than its competitors. Google was given 60 days to stop the breach.
On 8 September, Google told partners who send it accommodation data that the vacation rentals box is no longer shown to users in the EEA, meaning the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It described the change as part of complying with the DMA.
who it affects
What matters is where the person searching is located, not where the apartment is. A guest in Munich, Vienna or Ljubljana no longer sees the box. A guest in London or New York still does, because the United Kingdom and the US are not in the EEA.
It affects you directly if your property was on Google through your PMS, channel manager or another partner that sends data to Google. If you weren't there, this change has no direct effect on you.
| Where the property is shown | Guest in the EEA | Guest outside the EEA (e.g. UK, US) |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation box in search | no | yes |
| Google Maps | yes | yes |
| google.com/hotels | yes | yes |
Google hasn't said whether or when the box will return in Europe.
one regulation, two consequences
The DMA is the same regulation that stops Booking.com from preventing properties from offering different prices and conditions on other channels (we wrote about it). So you get more freedom on prices on your own channel, but also one free shop window fewer towards European guests. You will increasingly have to bring the guest to a direct booking yourself.
what to do
- Check whether you were on Google at all. Ask your PMS or channel manager partner whether it sends your property's data to Google.
- Don't switch that connection off. The same data is still shown on Google Maps, on google.com/hotels and to guests outside the EEA.
- Compare the numbers. If you have your own website, look in your analytics at visits and enquiries from Google after 8 September. The end of the season is quieter anyway, so compare with the same period last year, not with August.
- Strengthen the channels you control: your own website, contacts of guests who agreed to hear from you, and a clear offer for next season. Livvi works as an additional channel for direct bookings alongside Booking and Airbnb, with a 2% commission.
- Keep an eye on further changes. Google ties these changes to DMA compliance, so the look of search in Europe may change again.
Sources:
European Commission: Google fined 890 million euros for breaching the DMA · European Commission: DMA and the freedom to set prices on and outside Booking · PhocusWire: Google removes vacation rentals unit from search results in the EEA · Skift: Google Strips Out EU Travel Search Features · Rental Scale-Up: Google Vacation Rentals EEA removal