BRUSSELS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Google has proposed more

changes to its search results in Europe after some smaller

rivals complained about lower traffic to their sites resulting

from previous tweaks by the Alphabet unit and as EU

antitrust regulators consider levying charges against the

company under new EU tech rules.

Under the Digital Markets Act, Google is prohibited from

favouring its products and services on its platform. The Act

kicked in last year and is aimed at reining in the power of Big

Tech.

The world's most popular internet search engine has since

then tried to address conflicting demands from price-comparison

sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers, among others. The

latter three groups said their direct booking clicks have fallen

by 30% due to recent Google changes.

"We have therefore proposed more changes to our European

search results to try to accommodate these requests, while still

meeting the goals set by the DMA," Google's legal director,

Oliver Bethell, said in a blog post on Tuesday.

Changes include introducing expanded and equally formatted

units allowing users to choose between comparison sites and

supplier websites, new formats letting rivals show prices and

pictures on their websites as well as new ad units for

comparison sites.

"We think the latest proposal is the right way to balance

the difficult trade-offs that the DMA involves," Bethell said.

For its search results in Germany, Belgium and Estonia,

Google also plans to remove the map showing the location of

hotels and the results beneath the map, similar to its old "ten

blue links" format from years ago, as part of a short test to

gauge users' interest.

"We're very reluctant to take this step, as removing helpful

features does not benefit consumers or businesses in Europe,"

Bethell said.

Google has been in the European Commission's crosshairs

since March. DMA violations can cost companies as much as 10% of

their annual global turnover.