Google made it easier for European users to choose by changing its products to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA): people in Europe now get choice screens for search engines and browsers, a switch to stop Google from combining their data across services, and a way to send a live copy of their Google data to another company. These changes arrived in early March 2024. Google search results in Europe have been changing again since then, most recently after a July 2026 fine from the European Commission. None of it applies to accounts or devices in the United States.
Google has promised to make things easier for European users more than once. The promise that matters today is the compliance package Google built for the DMA, together with the search changes the European Commission has forced since. This guide covers what changed, where the settings are, what the 2026 enforcement means, and why readers in the US see none of it.
Why Google changed its products in Europe
The Digital Markets Act is an EU regulation that places obligations on very large platforms the Commission designates as gatekeepers. Alphabet was designated in September 2023, with eight of its services covered: Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping and Google’s online advertising services. Designated companies had six months to comply, which is why the changes landed in early March 2024.
Four DMA obligations explain nearly everything a user sees:
- Consent before combining data. A gatekeeper cannot combine your personal data across its core services unless you agree.
- Easy defaults and uninstalls. Users must be able to change defaults, remove preinstalled apps, and pick a search engine and browser from a choice screen.
- Data portability. Users must be able to move their data, including continuous access for a third party they authorize.
- No self preferencing. A gatekeeper cannot rank its own services more favorably than comparable rivals in search results.
Google described its compliance changes in a March 2024 post on complying with the DMA, which listed more than 20 search changes alongside the new choice screens, consent flows and a Data Portability API.
What European users can do now
| Change | What it lets you do | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|
| Choice screens | Pick a default search engine and, on Android, a default browser | During Android device setup; in Chrome on desktop and iOS at setup or restart |
| Linked services | Stop seven Google services from sharing your data with each other | Google Account, Data & privacy, Linked Google services |
| Data portability | Let another company copy your Google data once, or keep pulling updates for 30 or 180 days | Started from the other company’s app or site; revoked in your Google Account |
| Default apps | Switch defaults later and remove apps that came with the phone | Android Settings, Apps, Default apps (wording varies by manufacturer) |
| Search layout | See units that feature comparison sites and rival specialized search services | Automatic on Google Search in Europe |
The Android setup screens have their own history, going back to a 2018 antitrust decision, and we cover them in detail in our explainer on the Android choice screen in the EU. The rest of this guide focuses on the account and search changes.
How to unlink Google services
This is the most useful new control for privacy minded users, and it is easy to forget if you clicked through the consent banner back in 2024. According to Google’s help center, the steps on a computer are:
- Go to your Google Account at myaccount.google.com.
- Select Data & privacy in the left menu.
- Scroll to the data sharing area and select Linked Google services.
- Choose which services you want to keep linked, then select Next.
- Review your choices and select Confirm, then Done.
The services you can link or unlink are Search, YouTube, Ad services, Google Play, Chrome, Google Shopping and Google Maps. Everything else, including Google Photos, Gemini Apps, Waze and Workspace, stays linked, and Google keeps sharing data across services for fraud prevention, spam protection and legal compliance whatever you pick.
Germany is a partial exception. Google’s help page treats Germany separately for services linked by default, which reflects commitments Google gave Germany’s competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt, in 2023 about combining user data across services.
Moving your data to another company
Data export is not new. Google Takeout has let people download archives of their data for years, and it works worldwide. What the DMA added is continuous portability. With Google’s Data Portability API, you authorize a third party service to copy some of your Google data, such as activity from Search, YouTube, Maps, Chrome, Play or Shopping. Google’s help page says you can share a single static copy, or grant access for 30 or 180 days so the service keeps receiving updated copies during that period.
Two details are easy to miss. First, availability: Google’s help page lists the EEA countries plus Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Second, revoking access in your Google Account stops future copies but does not delete data the other company already received. If you have ever exported social media data, for example by following our guide to downloading a copy of your Facebook data, the same rule applies: read the receiving service’s privacy policy before you authorize anything.
How Google search results changed, and why they changed again in 2026
The first round of search changes in 2024 added dedicated units linking to comparison sites for things like flights, hotels and shopping, and removed some Google features from the results page, including the Google Flights unit. Rival comparison sites argued this still favored Google, and in March 2024 the Commission opened a noncompliance investigation into how Alphabet ranks its own services in Search, alongside a separate question about Google Play steering rules. Preliminary findings followed in March 2025.
On July 23, 2026 the Commission announced its decision. According to the Commission’s press release, Google was fined 460 million euros for giving preferential treatment to its own shopping, hotels, transport and sports results, and 430 million euros over Google Play anti steering rules, for a total of 890 million euros. Google was ordered to bring the noncompliance to an end, and the DMA allows periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover if a gatekeeper does not comply.
In September 2026 Google announced a revised European results layout. As reported by Reuters and other outlets, it places one specialized search service at the top of relevant results, shows two more with less detail, and moves a carousel of hotels, airlines and restaurants lower on the page without live prices. Google publicly said it believes the changes make results worse for Europeans and favor online intermediaries over local businesses. The Commission’s position is that rival services deserve the same prominence Google gave itself.
Does any of this apply in the United States?
No. The DMA is European law. A Google account and a phone in the US get no linked services toggle, no DMA choice screens and no access to the Data Portability API.
The closest US parallel is the Justice Department’s search case. In the remedies ruling of September 2, 2025, the federal court barred exclusive default search deals and ordered Google to share some search data with qualified competitors, but it declined to order consumer choice screens or a sale of Chrome. Both sides have taken the case to the D.C. Circuit, so details could change.
The UK runs a third, separate regime. The Competition and Markets Authority designated Google with strategic market status in general search in October 2025, imposed requirements on publisher controls, fair ranking and data portability in June 2026, and was still consulting on choice screens as of September 2026.
What this means for you
If you live in the EU or EEA, spend five minutes on the linked services page. It is the single setting with the biggest effect on how much Google combines about you, and you can test the trade off and switch back.
If you are in the US, you can still get most of the practical benefit manually. In Chrome on a computer, open the menu, then Settings, then Search engine, and pick any provider you like. On Android, change defaults under Settings, Apps, Default apps. Use Google Takeout for exports, and review activity controls in your Google Account.
If you run a website or an online business that serves Europe, watch traffic from European searches closely. Comparison units and rival vertical search services now sit where Google’s own units used to, which can shift clicks toward aggregators. Segment your reports by country, and use our guide to finding search queries in Google Analytics to spot changes. The fundamentals in our piece on optimizing website content for search engines still apply, but expect European results pages to look different from US ones.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries get these changes?
The DMA is EU law, and Google applies most of its compliance changes across the European Economic Area, which adds Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Google’s help pages describe the linked services control in EU terms, while its data portability page also lists Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The UK regulates Google under its own separate law.
Will I lose data or get signed out if I unlink services?
No. Unlinking does not delete your data or sign you out. It stops the chosen services from sharing personal data with each other for personalization and similar purposes. Some features become limited, such as personalized recommendations or saving places from Search into Maps, and you can relink services at any time from the same page.
Can people in the US get the same options?
Not the DMA versions. US accounts do not get the linked services toggle, the choice screens or the Data Portability API. US users can still change default search engines and browsers manually, export data with Google Takeout, and manage activity controls. The 2025 US court ruling declined to require consumer choice screens.
Why does Google say the new European search results are worse?
Google argues that giving top placement to intermediaries such as comparison and booking sites, and removing live prices from its own units, makes results less useful and hurts businesses that sell directly. The Commission’s view is that Google must not rank its own services above comparable rivals, and that fair placement benefits competition and users.
Is the Android choice screen part of the same package?
Yes. The search engine and browser choice screens shown during Android setup in Europe are one of the DMA obligations. They build on the 2018 Android antitrust case and began showing in their current form in March 2024. Our separate explainer on the Android choice screen covers how they work and why some phones never show them.
The bottom line
For European users, the practical upgrade is real: better control over defaults, a way to stop Google combining data from its biggest services, and ongoing data portability. The search page is the part still in flux, because the Commission’s July 2026 decision forced another redesign that Google openly dislikes.
For US readers, none of it switches on automatically. You can recreate much of it by changing defaults yourself and exporting your data, but the legal right to these controls stops at Europe’s borders. If you need the exact steps, Google’s help page on managing linked Google services is the primary reference.
