UK watchdog puts Google Search on notice after landmark ruling

Google could be forced to tweak how Search works in Britain after the competition regulator slapped it with a powerful new label: “strategic market status.” The designation, announced by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), doesn’t accuse Google of wrongdoing, but it does unlock bespoke rules the watchdog can impose to open up choice and curb the company’s clout.

In plain English: the CMA now has the legal firepower to order targeted changes to Google’s search and search-ads business — think mandatory “choice screens” to make it easier to pick a different default engine, clearer rules on how results are ranked, more control for publishers over how their content is used (including in AI answers), and a proper complaints process for businesses that feel buried on page four. Formal consultations on specific measures are due to start later in 2025, and non-compliance can carry fines.

The regulator says the case for action is straightforward. More than nine in ten UK web searches run through Google, giving it a “substantial and entrenched” position in both search and the ads that ride on top of it. That dominance, the CMA argues, can make it hard for rivals to get a look-in and leaves websites and app makers negotiating on Google’s terms. Notably, Google’s Gemini assistant isn’t covered by the decision (for now), but AI-powered search features such as AI Overviews are.

Google pushed back, warning ministers not to throttle the golden goose. In a blog post, Oliver Bethell, the company’s competition lead, said the UK has often been first in line for new Google products and argued that some remedies mooted so far could “inhibit UK innovation and growth,” especially amid a burst of AI development. The company has been keen to remind Westminster it’s investing heavily here, flagging a £5 billion UK spend on data centres and AI over the next two years.

This is the first big outing for the CMA’s new digital markets powers, designed to keep gatekeepers honest without waiting years for traditional antitrust cases to land. It also opens a fresh front for Google, which is facing a thicket of scrutiny abroad. In the United States, regulators are circling parts of its ads empire and the Supreme Court just let stand a sweeping order to change how its app store operates. In Europe, Brussels fined the company €2.95 billion in September for abusing dominance in ad tech. Closer to home, the CMA is also probing Google’s mobile ecosystem — Android could be next for the “strategic market status” tag.

Consumer groups broadly welcomed the UK move, saying more real-world choice in search is overdue as generative AI blurs the line between “search result” and “synthesised answer.” The politics are tricky, though. The government has told the CMA to balance tougher oversight with a drive for growth, and business groups will be watching closely for remedies that change user experience without slowing product launches.

Nothing changes on your phone tomorrow. But the direction of travel is clear: Britain’s competition cop now has the badge — and the baton — to reshape how Google Search behaves in the UK. Whether that means a prominent menu of alternatives when you set up a device, stricter ranking ground rules, or tighter guardrails around how AI summaries use third-party content, the era of “trust us” is over.

With input from BBC, CNBC, Reuters, and the Financial Times.