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UK Moves to Rein in Google’s AI Search Practices

By  |  January 28, 2026

Britain’s competition watchdog has outlined proposals aimed at forcing Google to give businesses, publishers and consumers more choice over how the company’s search and artificial intelligence services operate, according to Reuters.

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    The plans follow a decision in October by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to designate Google as having “strategic market status,” a label that gives the regulator broader powers to intervene and promote competition. Per Reuters, the move reflects concerns about Google’s dominant position in online search, where it handles more than 90% of queries in the UK.

    Under the proposals, publishers would be able to opt out of having their content used in Google’s AI Overviews or to train standalone artificial intelligence models, without suffering penalties in standard search rankings. Reuters reports that Google currently uses material gathered by its search crawler to power AI Overviews, an AI-driven search mode, and other products such as its Gemini assistant.

    News organisations and other content providers have complained that AI-generated summaries are diverting traffic away from their websites, as users increasingly rely on automated overviews rather than clicking through to original sources. According to Reuters, the CMA is seeking to rebalance the relationship by ensuring publishers can refuse participation in Google’s AI features while remaining visible in general search results.

    Read more: EU Pushes Google to Open Android AI Features and Search Data to Rivals

    The watchdog is also proposing changes to make search rankings more transparent and to reduce barriers for people who want to use alternative search engines. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said the “targeted and proportionate actions” would expand choice and control for UK businesses and consumers.

    “They would also provide a fairer deal for content publishers, particularly news organisations, over how their content is used in Google’s AI Overviews,” she said, according to Reuters.

    Google has pushed back against the proposals, arguing that search behaviour is evolving and that AI Overviews help users discover new information. Per Reuters, the company said it already offers publishers a range of controls and is “exploring updates” that would allow websites to opt out of generative AI features in search.

    “Any new controls need to avoid breaking search in a way that leads to a fragmented or confusing experience for people,” said Ron Eden, Google’s principal for product management. “We’re optimistic we can find a path forward that provides even more choice to website owners and publishers, while ensuring people continue to get the most helpful and innovative search experience possible.”

    A public consultation on the CMA’s proposals is open until February 25, according to Reuters.

    Source: Reuters