This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) is now facing a sharper regulatory test in the UK after the Competition and Markets Authority ordered Google to give publishers more control over how their content is used in AI-generated search summaries. The watchdog called the move a world first, saying publishers, including news organizations, will be able to block their content from being used to power AI search features.
The decision lands as Google is trying to protect its core search business while AI chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are possibly changing how users discover and consume digital content. Google has been pushing Gemini and rebuilding parts of search around AI agents, but the CMA said it will actively monitor the company’s announced changes and expects to announce further action on Google’s search business in the coming weeks.
Under the CMA’s requirements, Google must allow publishers to control whether their content is used to train AI services, avoid retaliation against publishers using those controls, explain how search content is used by generative AI, provide publishers with engagement metrics, and clearly attribute publisher content. Google has nine months to implement the changes, while the company said it will immediately begin testing new tools for a subset of UK website owners before a broader rollout.
