The UK Competition and Markets Authority has introduced two new driving requirements for Google’s general search services, one covering how organic results are ranked and another covering search data portability.
Under the fair ranking requirement, Google must rank organic results using objective, non-discriminatory criteria, including in AI previews, but not sponsored results. It also needs to be more transparent about how rankings work, provide advance notice of significant changes, and put in place a process for businesses to raise concerns.
Fair ranking
The companies told the CMA that Google’s ranking practices are neither fair nor transparent, that changes come without notice, and that they have no effective way to raise concerns when these changes harm them.
Will Hayter, executive director of digital markets at the CMA, said in the announcement:
“These new measures will ensure that search results are classified fairly and objectively, with clearer information about changes and effective routes to raise concerns. »
Google pushed back on the principle behind the ranking requirement. A spokesperson declared to the Press Journal that “the company’s ranking systems are fair, transparent, and display the most relevant and highest quality results.”
Data portability
The second requirement turns Google’s voluntary UK data portability API into a legal requirement. The tool already allows users to share their search data with third-party services.
These services want to build products around data, but lack reliable access, for uses such as personalized shopping offers or cashback rewards. This requirement aligns UK users’ data rights with those of the EU under the Digital Markets Act.
Timeline and Monitoring
Google has six months to implement the fair ranking requirement and three months for data portability. The CMA will monitor compliance through regular reporting and may add other measures.
How we got here
Requirements follow those of the CMA action at the beginning of June which gave websites more control over whether their content was used to power Google’s AI features. Both fall under the UK’s digital markets competition regime, created by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
Last year, Google achieved strategic market status in general search and search advertising. This designation does not constitute a finding that Google has violated competition law.
Why it matters
The requirement for fair ranking targets a long-standing frustration in research. UK businesses rely on Google search to reach customers, but say how rankings work is too unpredictable to plan. Objective criteria, advance notice of significant changes, and a complaints process would give these companies a defined path to raise concerns.
The requirement covers organic results, including those from AI previews, but not sponsored results. This places AI Overview ranking under the same obligations of fairness and transparency as standard organic ranking.
This requirement does not make Google’s ranking systems public. It sets obligations regarding criteria, reviews and complaints, not disclosure of the ranking algorithm.
Looking to the future
The CMA is acting in stages, with more activity on Google’s search business expected over the summer. Both requirements apply only in the United Kingdom.
The open question now is that of implementation. The value of this requirement depends on how Google puts it into practice and whether the CMA meets it.
The UK’s action comes on top of wider regulatory scrutiny of Google Search in other markets, including the United States and the European Union.
Featured Image: Tupungato/Shutterstock
