2026-06-03 09:13:29
Online publishers will be allowed to choose not to appear in Google’s AI Overviews search results in the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced the move, which would “put publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals” with the tech giant.
As reported by BBC News, the CMA’s Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said: “It is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used.”
Many websites have reported a large drop in traffic following Google’s decision to put AI summaries at the top of its search results.
In addition to being able to omit themselves from the AI Overviews, the CMA has also told Google to properly attribute content appearing in those AI search results via a clear link to their site.
Cardell added that the “world-first requirement” will result in “fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers”.
The CMA has reported that Google has a 90 percent control over the UK’s online search market, with publishers and other sites heavily relying on the platform’s search results for traffic.
This has massively reduced since Google started to priorities AI overviews above links to other sites.
The CMA has claimed that a publisher opting out of the AI results will have greater leverage to negotiate deals to get properly paid for content the AI is using for those results.
While Google has been given nine months to bring in all the requirements, the CMA insisted “important parts” should come in sooner.
The CMA has the power for further actions if Google search doesn’t appear to be making these changes.
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