Report from Euractiv
In Brief – The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced proposed rules to govern how Google operates its search engine, including requiring that the company allow website publishers to opt out of having their content used in AI-generated search summaries or to train Google’s AI models. The proposed rules were developed under regulatory authority created by UK’s digital markets competition law that took effect in early 2025. Online publishers globally have been critical of generative AI services for undermining their business models by directly answering user queries with content informed by content scraped from their websites, allegedly reducing click-through traffic and related revenues. Many are especially critical of Google because its search engine generates the most traffic. Beyond AI opt-outs, the CMA is proposing other requirements including clearly attributing publisher content in AI search results, demonstrating that search rankings are fair and transparent, and creating effective processes for handling complaints. Google responded with a statement cautioning against forcing changes that could fragment or confuse search. Public consultation is underway through 25 February.
Context – The chatbot-search convergence is underway. And it’s going to be bumpy. The European Commission has initiated an antitrust investigation of how Google uses content from publisher websites to provide AI answers to search queries without allowing websites to freely refuse to participate. The Commission has also initiated a six-month negotiation to work with Google on Digital Markets Act compliance rules to allow competitor chatbots to work effectively on Android devices. Google has responded to website concerns about AI-infused search by claiming that better responses to search queries leads to more searches and more traffic overall. The company also argues that AI chatbots, such as market-leading Chat-GPT, are being used like search, a key point in the US Google Search antitrust trial. Web businesses with ad-based revenue models should be thinking about which AI company is most likely to build an ad-friendly AI ecosystem.