Google Drops Organic Product Carousels Across Europe to Comply with DMA

In a major shift for European e-commerce, Google has begun stripping organic product carousels and grids from its search results across the European Economic Area (EEA). The decision comes as part of Google’s effort to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), though the company warned the move marks one of the most significant drops in search quality in its history.

Dramatic Drop in Organic Product Visibility

Data from organic shopping analytics platform Productrise highlights a massive shift: visibility for product carousels across thousands of daily queries in EEA countries—including EU member states, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—has plummeted by 90 to 100 percent in a matter of days. Non-EEA markets like the US, UK, and Australia remain completely unaffected.

Comparison Aggregators Take Center Stage

Consumers searching for products in the EEA will now encounter list-based layouts featuring price comparison websites and store directories rather than direct product previews. Reaching dedicated shopping tools now requires multiple extra clicks for users.

The Removal of the Google Shopping Tab

The dedicated “Shopping” tab has been removed from Google’s main navigation menu and can no longer be accessed under the “More” dropdown. Standard Google Shopping Ads remain intact, making paid placements the primary visual showcase for items.

Declining Direct Value for Product SEO and Merchant Center

With organic product grids removed from standard search pages, relying solely on product-level SEO and Google Merchant Center data feeds yields far less direct visibility than before.

Category Pages Regain SEO Focus

Search strategists expect e-commerce brands to pivot their organic strategy. As individual product carousels vanish, well-optimized category and subcategory pages are set to become the primary focus for organic search traffic.

Big Brands vs. Small Merchants: A Growing Visibility Gap

Industry observers anticipate that larger, well-known retailers may benefit from an increase in direct brand traffic. Conversely, smaller online businesses could face steeper hurdles in driving customer discovery without relying on paid advertising campaigns.