Key Points
- The UK’s competition regulator has designated Google as having “strategic market status” in search.
- The ruling gives the regulator new powers to intervene and force changes to Google’s business.
- The CMA controls over 90% of the UK search market.
- Potential changes include fairer search rankings and more control for publishers over their content.
Google could be forced to make major changes to its search business in the UK after the country’s competition regulator designated it as having “strategic market status.” The landmark ruling on Friday gives the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) powerful new tools to tackle the tech giant’s dominance.
The CMA found that with over 90% of all searches in the UK happening on its platform, Google holds a “strategic position” in the market. This new designation doesn’t mean Google has done anything wrong, but it does allow the regulator to step in to ensure the market is “open to effective competition.”
What could that mean in practice? The CMA has already floated several ideas, including forcing Google to have fairer search rankings, making it easier for people to switch to other search engines, and giving publishers more control over how their content is used to train AI models.
Google is pushing back, arguing that these changes could “inhibit UK innovation and growth.” But this is just the latest in a series of regulatory headaches for the company. Google is also facing antitrust investigations in the U.S. and was recently hit with a massive $3.45 billion fine in the European Union.
For now, nothing will change immediately. But the CMA is expected to consult on its specific plans later this year, and it now has the power to impose hefty fines if Google doesn’t comply. This is the first time the UK has used its new powers to take on Big Tech, and it signals a new, tougher era of regulation.
