CMA consults on Google’s search dominance

Beneath the Digital Markets Competitors Regime, the Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed to designate Google with “strategic market standing” (SMS).

Google Search accounts for greater than 90% of all common search queries within the UK, with thousands and thousands of individuals counting on it as a key gateway to the web and greater than 200,000 companies within the UK counting on Google Search promoting to succeed in their clients. These providers matter to our financial system and society, so it’s very important that competitors works effectively.

The CMA has been trying into the problem various web search suppliers face resulting from Google’s dominance in search promoting. A session on the proposal will happen forward of a closing determination in October. If the CMA’s proposed designation of Google as an SMS goes forward, among the many actions it plans to take is requiring Google to supply alternative screens for customers to entry completely different search suppliers. It will additionally stipulate that Google presents honest rating ideas for companies showing on its search engine, and the corporate would wish to offer extra transparency and management for publishers whose content material seems in search outcomes.

It’s additionally trying to make sure portability of shopper search knowledge to help innovation in new services.

Past the precise search engine, the CMA mentioned it’s additionally contemplating the impression of generative AI on web search. The CMA mentioned its proposed SMS designation would come with AI-based search options, although not Gemini AI Assistant itself. Nonetheless, it plans to assessment this additional.

“Google is the world’s main search software and performs an essential position in all our lives, with the common individual within the UK making 5 to 10 searches a day,” mentioned Sarah Cardell, chief government of the CMA. “It’s equally important for over 200,000 UK companies which depend on Google to succeed in their clients. Google Search has delivered great advantages – however our investigation to this point suggests there are methods to make these markets extra open, aggressive and progressive.

“These focused and proportionate actions would give UK companies and customers extra alternative and management over how they work together with Google’s search providers – in addition to unlocking better alternatives for innovation throughout the UK tech sector and broader financial system,” she mentioned.

Together with the CMA session, Google is dealing with a lot of authorized instances within the UK. In April, UK-based authorized professor Or Brook filed a category motion in opposition to Google price roughly £5bn within the UK Competitors Enchantment Tribunal (CAT). The category motion, introduced on behalf of tons of of 1000’s of UK-based organisations that used Google’s promoting providers, accuses the agency of abusing its near-total dominance within the common search market to drive up costs.

One other case, filed by Nikki Stopford, co-founder of Shopper Voice, is concentrated on the fee to customers resulting from elevated promoting prices companies that use Google Search pay because of anti-competitive practices.

In November final yr, Google’s try and throw out Stopford’s case was dismissed, paving the best way for the case to be heard on the CAT.