Google has caved to regulatory pressure to let websites block the search giant from using their content in its AI overviews feature.
Publishers will be able to opt out of the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google’s search results.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which forced Google to make the changes, said it would make it easier for publishers, such as news organisations, to negotiate deals with the tech giant.
The CMA said it would mean a “fairer deal for publishers and consumers and improve Google’s search services in the UK”.
Google is increasingly adding AI overviews, which are designed to quickly answer questions, to the top of its search results.
However, website publishers have bristled at the changes, saying they deprive them of traffic since users are less likely to visit their own sites, and that they have no control over whether they appear in the results.
AI companies have been accused of freeloading on news publishers’ output, using their material without permission.
Under “conduct requirements” imposed by the CMA on Wednesday, websites will be able to activate an opt-out to stop Google from scraping their content to power search features such as AI overviews.
Google said it was testing the changes with a subset of UK websites before introducing them globally.
The company said last month that 2.5 billion people now use AI overviews, which publishers say have led to a plummet in traffic.
Before now, websites have been unable to opt out of powering the feature without removing themselves from Google search completely.
News publishers have accused AI companies, including Google, of scraping their websites without permission to train AI while saying that companies should pay for access.
Some publishers have struck deals with companies including OpenAI to allow their content to train chatbots.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, said: “With features like AI overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used.”
Responding to the changes, Mrinalini Loew, a general manager at Google, said its AI features “are designed to help people find and visit great websites, and to help publishers and websites strengthen their audiences”.
However, she said the company had already made several changes such as making links to websites within AI overviews more prominent.
Theo Bamber, the chief executive of the News Media Association, whose members include The Telegraph, said: “The legally enforceable conduct requirements for Google Search published today are a significant step towards levelling the playing field and building a fair, transparent digital economy where premium content is properly respected and fairly compensated.”
