The UK Competition and Markets Authority has imposed a new driving requirement on Google Search, which will allow publishers to opt out of having their content used in AI search features.
The requirement follows that of the CMA decision to designate Google with strategic status in the general search market. It falls under the UK’s digital markets competition regime, the framework created by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
For clarity, giving Google this status does not mean that the company has violated competition law.
What Google should do
This requirement imposes three obligations on Google.
Google must provide websites with a way to opt out of AI search features like AI previews and AI mode. The CMA says greater control can strengthen publishers’ bargaining power with Google.
Additionally, Google must give websites the ability to opt out of having their content used to train AI models. According to the CMA, this deregistration of publishers is a world first.
Google must also give publishers’ content clear links in AI-generated results.
Cardell said:
“With features like AI Overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organizations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used. At the same time, these measures will help tens of millions of search users in the UK better understand and trust the information presented to them.”
Timeline and Monitoring
Most requirements come into effect six months after publication. Google has nine months to introduce page-level controls for AI search features.
Google will also have to submit compliance reports to the CMA every six months for the first year. The CMA expects Google to publish a summary or non-confidential version so that we can learn more about the impact of these changes.
Google didn’t say how opt-out would work, including whether publishers would handle it through a robots.txt directive, Search Console, or another method.
Why it matters
The main way to keep content out of AI previews has been the nosnippet directive, which also removes standard search snippets. A control that separates the use of AI features from normal indexing, if it works as the CMA describes, would remove this trade-off for publishers whose content reaches UK users.
Looking to the future
The CMA said it would announce further measures regarding Google’s search activity in the coming weeks. The regime came into force in 2025 and the agency has since opened four strategic market situation investigations into Google, Apple and Microsoft.
