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The
Competition and Markets Authority said its “priority measures”
include requiring Google to present users with “choice screens”
when they use key products like the Chrome browser and Android
mobile operating system.
The choice screens would let users “easily select and switch
between search services," which could potentially include AI
assistants, it said.
The watchdog is seeking to give Google a “ strategic market
status ” label under the new U.K. digital rules. That would give
it the power to use “targeted measures” to impose changes to
“specific aspects” of its search operations in the U.K.
The CMA's move “could have significant implications for
businesses and consumers in the UK,” Google said.
Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, noted
in a prepared statement that CMA reiterated that ‘strategic
market status’ doesn't imply that anti-competitive behavior has
taken place, "yet this announcement presents clear challenges to
critical areas of our business in the U.K.,”
The watchdog has until Oct. 13 to decide on whether to give
Google the label.
It has drawn up three other initial priority measures that it
would carry out if it goes ahead.
Google would have to make its search results ranking and
presentation fair and non-discriminatory, and give businesses an
effective way to complain if they've been treated unfairly.
Publishers should be given choice and transparency about how
their content collected by Google is used for AI services, such
as AI-generated overviews that have been appearing at the top of
search results.
The CMA also wants to ensure people can easily transfer their
data, such as their Google search history, to other businesses,
which the CMA said could foster innovative new products and
services.
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