On Friday (local time), the UK Competition and Market Authority (CMA) officially designated Google as a company with a strateching market position in the field of online search and search advertising.
This decision means that Google will maintain a dominating and long-term position in the market, so special regulations are needed to ensure fair competition.
In its report, the CMA stated: Google has had a unique position in this digital field for many years. Other general search providers, such as Bing, are currently under 5% market participants and have not seen significant growth over the past 15 years. This shows that Google is almost not really competitive in the online search market in the UK.
While the appointment does not mean that the CMA detects wrongdoing and does not make an immediate request, it paves the way for deeper assessments.
Management agencies may take interventions to change how Google operates its search services in the UK.
The scope of the designation includes search services, search advertising, AI features such as: AI overview and AI mode, discovery data sources, top news tabs and news, but does not include the Google News application and other search content services.
The CMA also noted that while Google's Gemini AI assistant is not yet available for assignment, it will review as the AI search market develops. A consultation on interventions could be launched later this year.
The decision comes from a nine-month investigation into whether Google is creating barriers to competition and innovation, prioritizing its services over third parties, or using consumer data without clear consent.
CMA offers many feasible implementation options, including giving users the choice of search engine, deploying a mobile data system, ensuring a fair ranking for search results, accurately recording published works by publishers and Google's AI service approval mechanism.
Responding to this decision, Google warned that any intervention could hinder innovation. In a blog post, the company said the UK had access to new products faster than other countries by avoiding cost-effective restrictions.
Google emphasized: Many interventionist ideas will hinder innovation and growth, and can even force businesses to increase prices for customers.
The CMA's move is seen as a major turning point in digital technology management in the UK, as authorities seek to balance the monopoly of technology giants and competitive, innovative and consumer benefits.
Googles special market regulations open up a more secure monitoring period, especially as AI features become increasingly central to the search industry.
