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UK Watchdog Expands Digital Oversight, Naming Apple and Google Key Market Gatekeepers

By  |  October 22, 2025

Apple and Alphabet’s Google have been assigned “strategic market status” in the United Kingdom, a move that places their dominant mobile ecosystems under tougher oversight from the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), according to Bloomberg.

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    The designation targets the companies’ control over mobile operating systems, app stores, and web browsers — areas the CMA says have created a near-duopoly. The decision comes under a new set of digital market competition rules that took effect earlier this year. These rules give the regulator greater power to enforce compliance and impose fines to promote competition in critical digital sectors.

    According to Bloomberg, Will Hayter, the CMA’s executive director for digital markets, emphasized the importance of ensuring fair competition. He stated that the app economy contributes roughly 1.5% of the UK’s GDP and supports around 400,000 jobs, underscoring the need for markets that encourage investment, innovation, and growth. The latest announcement marks the second set of designations issued under the new framework.

    Earlier this month, Google was the first company to receive a similar label in the online search and advertising sectors. At that time, the company warned that the designation could “potentially slow product launches” in the UK. Following the latest announcement, Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior competition director, described the CMA’s decision as “disappointing, disproportionate and unwarranted,” per Bloomberg.

    Read more: Apple Takes on EU in Landmark Challenge to Digital Markets Act

    Apple and Google are both already dealing with regulatory challenges across Europe. Apple has recently contested the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, arguing in court that the bloc’s antitrust measures are “onerous and intrusive.” The company has also voiced concerns that the UK’s move to adopt EU-like regulations could weaken user privacy and security. “We’ve seen the impact of regulation on Apple users in the EU, and we urge the UK not to follow the same path,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement.

    According to Bloomberg, the new rules allow the CMA to set conduct requirements for designated firms. These could include forcing Apple and Google to make it easier for users to download apps or make purchases outside of their proprietary systems. The CMA noted that despite advances in technology, including artificial intelligence, consumer habits and existing barriers make it unlikely that Apple or Google’s market power will diminish during the next five years of designation.

    The CMA’s latest action signals the UK’s intent to more aggressively regulate Big Tech’s influence, mirroring similar moves in the European Union but adding its own enforcement framework to the global regulatory push against digital market dominance.

    Source: Bloomberg