UK watchdog targets one of Google's biggest features, company responds

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is moving to significantly loosen Google’s alleged control over the digital landscape. The watchdog has proposed new regulations that would grant publishers power over how their content can be used by the tech giant’s AI feature – AI Overviews. This is one the biggest features offered by Google in Search, and provides a summary of users’ questions in an easy to understand language.The move, announced on Wednesday (January 28), marks the first major exercise of power under the UK’s new digital competition regime, reports The Financial Times, adding that publishers have long feared that AI Overviews will “cannibalize” their web traffic.The CMA’s proposed “conduct requirements” will force Google to allow publishers to “opt out” of having their material used to generate AI summaries without losing their visibility in traditional search results.Furthermore, the regulator is demanding that Google must ensure that AI-generated results clearly credit the original sources of information. The tech giant has also been asked to demonstrate that its search and AI rankings are "fair and transparent" for businesses. And finally, Google must give UK consumers more control over how they interact with search services.“Today is an important milestone as we consult on the first conduct requirements under the digital markets competition regime in the UK,” said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA.“These targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google’s search services,” she added.The crackdown is possible because Google became the first company to get Strategic Market Status (SMS) under the UK's new laws last October. This designation lasts for five years and allows the CMA to bypass antitrust investigations and issue direct “conduct requirements” to tech giants for ‘fair competition’.If Google fails to comply, it may could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover. While Search is currently the focus, the CMA noted that Google’s Gemini AI assistant is being kept under review for future designation.Google has signaled a cautious but firm resistance to the proposals. Ron Eden, Google’s Principal for Product Management, defended the company’s existing model.“For years, we have provided web publishers with a range of controls based on open standards . . . to manage how their content appears in Search,” said Ron Eden, Google’s principal for product management.“Any new controls need to avoid breaking Search in a way that leads to a fragmented or confusing experience for people,” Eden warned.