Google AI Overviews sparks antitrust probe for using publisher content

Google is facing a European Union investigation into its use of publishers’ online content for AI-generated search summaries, such as AI Previews and AI Mode, with anti-competitive practices the main suspicion.

Announced on Tuesday, the EU’s main executive body, the European Commission, has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Google’s practice of using online publishers’ material for AI purposes – and that includes the company’s use of content uploaded to YouTube.

According to the EU, the investigation will examine “whether Google distorts competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, or by granting itself privileged access to this content, thereby disadvantaging developers of competing AI models.”

Specifically, the EU will examine Google’s AI-powered generative search summarization tools, AI Overviews and AI Mode, and determine whether the company used web publishers’ content for these tools “without appropriate compensation to publishers and without providing them with the opportunity to opt out of such use of their content.”

Since Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024, researchers have found that websites, including news and media outlets, have seen a devastating impact on site traffic. In July 2025, Google also launched AI Mode, a more conversational AI-powered search results aggregator. A July 2025 Pew Research Center study found that users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, and they are more likely to end their browsing session.

This impact on news sites has been colossal. As Cecily Mauran reports for Mashable, “organic search traffic from major news sites, including the The Wall Street Journal, The New York TimesAnd The Washington Post has decreased according to SimilarWeb data. And smaller independent sites say the deployment of AI Overviews has forced them to close their sites or completely reinvent their distribution model due to declining traffic, according to a report. Bloomberg report. Other reports from SEO analysts found that the presence of AI previews reduced clicks to sites, compared to traditional search results.

In the UK, DMG Media, owner of MailOnline and Metro, told the Competition and Markets Authority (according to the BBC) that AI insights caused an 89% drop in click-through rates.

So what’s next? The EU has informed Google of the investigation and says there is “no legal deadline” for closing the case, noting that the deadline may be influenced by “the complexity of the case, the extent to which the companies concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defense by the parties.”

It’s just the latest Big Tech case brought by the EU, with Apple and Meta facing hundreds of millions in fines and a historic €120 million fine imposed on Elon Musk’s X, all for breaching its Digital Services Act (DSA). But it’s also the latest case against a major tech company using hardware for AI training and aggregation, with ChatGPT creator OpenAI facing multiple lawsuits over AI training and copyright infringement, including from publishers. Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging that it had violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.