UK’s Google Search Faces a Major Overhaul
▼ Summary
– The UK’s CMA has designated Google with Strategic Market Status to address its dominance in search and promote competition in digital markets.
– Google Search accounts for over 90% of UK search queries, with businesses spending over £10 billion on its advertising in 2024.
– Google argues that CMA interventions could inhibit UK innovation, slow AI product launches, and force businesses to raise prices.
– The new regulations will affect Google Search’s News tab, Top Stories, and Discover, but not Google News or the Gemini AI chatbot.
– The CMA has flexibility to impose targeted interventions and may go beyond EU regulations, particularly regarding Google’s AI services integration.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has officially designated Google’s search engine as holding Strategic Market Status, a landmark decision aimed at fostering greater competition within the country’s digital marketplace. This move paves the way for targeted regulatory actions intended to level the playing field for rival services and ensure fair treatment for the vast number of consumers and businesses that depend on Google.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at the consumer group Which?, described the designation as a vital measure for enhancing competition. She pointed out that while the landscape of online search is shifting with the rise of generative AI tools, it remains crucial for the CMA to address Google’s current market dominance and encourage healthy rivalry among emerging AI-powered search technologies.
According to the CMA’s findings, Google Search handles an overwhelming majority of general search queries in the UK, exceeding 90 percent. The authority also revealed that more than 200,000 UK businesses invested over £10 billion in Google search advertising during 2024. The official decision report states that the SMS designation allows regulators to develop appropriate and focused interventions. The goal is to make general search services more open to effective competition and to give users confidence that they are being dealt with fairly.
In a statement provided to WIRED, Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, expressed concern about the proposed interventions. He argued that several of the ideas under consideration could stifle innovation and economic growth in the UK, potentially delaying the launch of new products during a period of significant AI advancement. Bethell further cautioned that some proposals might directly harm businesses, potentially forcing them to increase prices for their customers.
Greg Dowell, a senior competition knowledge lawyer at Macfarlanes, noted that Google’s reaction is to be expected. He suggested that Google, along with other major technology firms facing similar regulations, will likely defend their business practices by claiming they are pro-consumer. Dowell explained that it is natural for companies in Google’s position to resist constraints on their ability to develop and roll out new products.
The new regulatory framework will impact specific features within Google Search, including the “News” tab, the “Top Stories” carousel, and the Google Discover feed. However, the CMA has clarified that Google’s standalone news product, Google News, and its AI chatbot Gemini, will not be subject to these new rules.
Dowell anticipates that the implementation of this regulatory roadmap will be a process spanning several months. He also suggested that the CMA might pursue more stringent measures than those seen in the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, especially concerning restrictions on how Google integrates its AI services into its search engine. A significant advantage of the UK’s regulatory approach, according to Dowell, is its inherent flexibility. The CMA can adapt its interventions in response to market developments, a contrast to the EU’s system where such rules are more firmly fixed within the legislation itself.
(Source: Wired)
