Readers get a clearer picture of the price they see in Google’s EU booking widgets. New disclaimer text on those panels tells users that the price shown was customized by the booking partner using factors such as the device type of the visitor, making the personalization explicit rather than invisible.
The disclaimer appears inside Google’s DMA (Digital Markets Act) booking search blocks, which are shown in regions where the European Union’s Digital Markets Act rules apply. The wording reads: “This price was customised by the booking partner based on factors such as your device type.” Google has not publicly enumerated every factor the booking partner uses, but the language leaves the door open to signals beyond device alone.
What the new label actually says
The notice sits inside the booking widget itself rather than in a footnote or help link. Its core message to the searcher is that the figure is not a generic rate pulled from a single source. It is a number the booking partner adjusted before sending it back to Google for display.
The exact phrasing references “factors such as your device type” as the worked example. That phrasing is important because it both confirms personalization and signals that device type is only one of several inputs in play. Google is not promising a fixed price list behind the widget.
Why this only appears in EU regions
The booking widgets themselves are tied to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the regulatory framework that requires designated gatekeepers to expose certain choices and comparators to users. Because the booking widget is itself a DMA compliance surface in Europe, the customization disclaimer rides along with it and does not show in regions where the DMA booking experience is not active.
This explains why the disclaimer is not a global change to every Google travel or hotel result. It is scoped to the EU booking experience that the regulation triggered in the first place.
What other factors might influence the price
Google’s wording names device type, then leaves the list open. Common personalization signals that travel booking sites already use include:
- Geographic location, derived from IP address or browser settings, which can shift regional availability, currency and base rates.
- Browser language, which often steers the user toward a localized inventory.
- Account or signed-in status, where past searches, loyalty tier or travel history can change the offers surfaced.
- Device class, where mobile visitors on smaller screens sometimes see different default rooms or rate plans than desktop users.
- Time of day and session behavior, which can affect urgency-style pricing such as countdown deals or last-room inventory.
- Cookies and audience segments set by the booking partner itself, which can return different rates for first-time visitors versus returning ones.
None of these are confirmed by Google as inputs in this specific widget, and the disclaimer does not promise that any of them apply. The list is useful as a mental model for why two browsers in the same room might see two different numbers on the same search.
What this means for people comparing hotels in Google
A traveler using the EU booking widget should treat the price in the panel as a personalized starting offer rather than the canonical rate for that property on those dates. A few practical moves make the comparison fairer:
- Open the booking partner’s site directly in the same browser session to compare the price the widget shows against the price on the partner’s own page.
- Switch device, for example from a phone to a laptop on the same network, and reload the search to see whether the figure changes.
- Clear cookies for the booking partner’s domain and reload, which strips some of the audience signals that shape the rate.
- Sign out of any Google account active in the browser, since signed-in status is another personalization layer.
- Compare across multiple booking partners shown in the widget, because each partner sets and personalizes its own prices independently.
None of these steps guarantees a lower price. They can make the comparison more honest by removing one variable at a time so the user can see which inputs actually moved the number.
Why Google is adding the label now
Regulators in the EU have pushed for clearer disclosure when a comparison or booking surface shows a rate that has been adjusted for the user. The disclaimer is the simplest way for Google to flag that the figure in the widget is partner-set rather than a neutral comparator, while still keeping the booking widget itself in the search results. The text is short, attributive (“by the booking partner”), and it names at least one concrete factor (“your device type”), which is the kind of language DMA guidance tends to reward.
The bigger picture for travel search
Personalized pricing in travel is not new. Airlines and hotels have adjusted fares based on device, location and demand for years, and most metasearch engines do not show a single rate card for a property on a given night. What changes with this disclaimer is the visibility of that personalization inside Google’s own EU booking experience. The widget still functions the same way under the hood; the user just now has a written reminder that the price they see has been adjusted for them rather than pulled from a flat list.
For anyone working in travel SEO or hotel marketing, the operational consequence is straightforward: the rate card on the brand’s own site should still be treated as the source of truth, and any gap between that rate and the rate shown in Google’s EU booking widget is, by design, the booking partner’s choice rather than Google’s.
FAQ
What does the new Google booking widget disclaimer say?
The disclaimer inside Google’s EU booking search widget reads: “This price was customised by the booking partner based on factors such as your device type.” It tells the user that the price in the panel was adjusted by the booking partner rather than shown as a standard rate.
Where does this disclaimer appear?
It appears inside the DMA (Digital Markets Act) booking search widgets shown in EU regions where the regulation is enforced. It is not a global change to every Google travel or hotel result.
What factors does Google say go into the customized price?
Google names device type as one example factor. The phrasing “such as your device type” leaves the list open, and other signals such as location, language, cookies, signed-in status or session behavior are not enumerated by Google but are commonly used by booking sites for rate personalization.
Related coverage
- Google AI Search Is Linking to Source Websites Again, Here’s What Changed – BizScoreAI
- Google’s AI Search Guide Isn’t Reassuring. It’s a Warning About Generic Content – BizScoreAI
- Google AI Mode vs AI Overviews: Study Reveals Divergent Search Behavior – BizScoreAI
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