UK proposes forcing Google to let publishers opt out of AI summaries
LONDON — Britain’s competition watchdog said on Wednesday that Google should give news sites and content creators the choice to opt out of having their online content removed to power its AI insights.
It’s part of a package of proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority aimed at loosening the US tech giant’s grip on the UK’s online search market.
Last year, the watchdog called Google a “strategic” player in online search advertising, using new digital powers to promote more competition by forcing changes to the company’s business practices.
The CMA report notes that news publishers have suffered a drop in traffic since Google rolled out its AI previews – summaries that appear at the top of some search queries – as fewer users click on the original articles.
The watchdog said Google should give publishers “meaningful choice” over how their content is used in AI-generated responses; be more transparent about the process; and correctly cite the content used in the AI results.
Google said it looked forward to working with the watchdog and would continue discussions with website owners.
“We are currently exploring updates to our controls to allow sites to specifically opt out of generative search AI features,” Ron Eden, head of product management at Google, said in a blog post.
“Our goal is to protect the usefulness of search for people who want information quickly, while providing websites with the appropriate tools to manage their content.
Will Hayter, the CMA’s executive director of digital markets, said in a blog post that the measures would support the “long-term sustainability” of publishers and “help people verify the sources of AI-generated results and build confidence in what they see.”
The CMA also recommended that Google rank its search results fairly and not prioritize websites that have advertising relationships or other commercial agreements with Google. And it proposes to make it easier for users to change their default search engine by requiring choice screens on Android devices and the Chrome browser.
The watchdog will make its final decision after collecting feedback during a consultation which ends on February 25.
