Google has finally put its scattered regional search features in one place. Search Central published a hub that lists which special result units exist in the European Economic Area, Türkiye and South Africa, who is eligible for each, and the exact route to participate.
Per Google’s changelog, the pages are meant to help publishers, businesses and aggregators understand “the eligibility criteria and how to participate.” That’s a documentation update, not a product launch — but for anyone with traffic in these markets, it’s a genuinely useful one.
What the hub actually covers
Seven features, filterable by region and query type. The EEA carries the heaviest load:
- Aggregator units for comparison sites and supplier units for direct providers, across hotel, flight, ground transportation and product queries.
- An ecosystem carousel for weather, sports, finance and translation queries.
- A “Job sites” carousel and refinement chip (a filter that sits at the top of results) for jobs.
- Structured data carousels for travel, local and product queries.
Türkiye gets a “Places sites” carousel and refinement chip for hotel and local business queries, plus the carousels. South Africa gets a “South African” badge and refinement chip on travel, product, car hire, food delivery and bus booking searches, plus the carousels.
Three very different paths to entry
This is the part worth internalising, because the effort levels are not remotely comparable.
Markup route. Structured data carousels are the only feature that needs schema: an ItemList paired with a supported LocalBusiness, Product or Event type, with at least three entities on the summary or category page linking through to detail pages.
Feed and approval route. Aggregator units require feed or API integrations. Hotel aggregators supply a lodging feed. Flight and ground transportation aggregators connect via real-time APIs. Product aggregators go through the Comparison Shopping Services programme. On top of that, aggregators need approval as a Vertical Search Service.
Do-nothing route. Supplier units can rely on data Google picks up through normal crawling — there’s no form listed on that page. A site qualifies by being a direct provider, such as a single hotel or airline, serving EEA users. Job sites and places sites need no markup either, and the ecosystem carousel needs no new structured data or special feed. Most of the other pages link to an interest form.
Why this matters for your team
Until now, answering “is my client eligible for this?” meant reverse-engineering blog posts and changelog entries stretching back two and a half years. Two filters now return the answer, and each result tells you whether the path is markup, a feed plus approval, or a form.
Practical read: hotels, airlines, retailers and aggregators with EEA traffic have the most to audit. The aggregator unit involves data plumbing that takes real lead time; the supplier unit costs you nothing beyond a crawlable site. If you run a single-property or single-brand site in travel, that asymmetry is free upside.
For weather, sports, finance and translation publishers, the ecosystem carousel page is notable because it’s the first written eligibility statement for that unit. Google says a site must be an “authoritative source or a specialized provider” in its category. The unit may appear beside answers built on charts or live data, like stock prices or weather. No launch date is given.
A quick audit framework
Run this on every client with European, Turkish or South African traffic:
- Classify: are you an aggregator, a direct supplier, or a content publisher? That single answer determines your route.
- Match: filter the hub by your region and query type. Note every feature you’re eligible for.
- Sequence: ship the zero-cost items first (supplier eligibility, forms), then schedule feed and API work with engineering.
- Monitor: watch the Search Central changelog. Documentation is moving fast here.
What’s still missing
Local queries for dining and services are expected to get aggregator and supplier units, but the hub doesn’t list them yet. The European Commission’s 60-day compliance window from its July decision runs into late September, so more movement is likely.
One loose end: “Places sites” was an EEA aggregator unit back in 2024. The hub now lists it for Türkiye only, and the documentation doesn’t state whether the EEA version was retired. Background matters here — the job sites unit, refinement chips and carousel rich results launched in the EEA in February 2024 ahead of the Digital Markets Act. The South African badge dates to September 2024, with carousels reaching Türkiye in May 2025 and South Africa that August.
Bottom line: this is regulation-shaped SERP real estate. It’s not global, it’s not permanent, and most of your competitors haven’t read the docs yet.
Source: Search Engine Journal
