Citation, please! UK regulator slaps Google with new publishing rules for search

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Action follows Chocolate Factory's changes to AI search results 

The UK’s competition regulator has imposed new rules for Google search, in a bid to help publishers prevent their work from appearing in AI Overview results as well as to get links to their work instated in AI results.

The Competition and Markets Authority imposed a new conduct requirement for Google search, which it promises will provide effective tools to stop publishers' content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews. The requirements will put publishers, including news organizations badly hit by Google AI summaries, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google, the CMA said.

The regulator also requires Google to properly attribute publisher content, using clear links in AI‑generated search results.

Google is also set to allow publishers to opt out of their content being used to fine-tune AI models.

In May, Google said it would embed its AI in search, offering users an AI summary of results that does not directly link to website sources. The CMA said it was monitoring how Google is implementing these changes and assessing their impact on businesses. The regulator said it would bring forward work on further measures to ensure a fair exchange of value between Google and publishers.

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said the move was a world‑first requirement on Google’s search services in the UK and would support fair treatment and choice for businesses and consumers.

“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 UK search users better understand and trust the information presented to them,” she said.

She said the new rules were designed to respond to what Google is doing now and in the future. “We’ll also continue to use the unique flexibility of the UK regime to monitor and address future concerns as they arise and we will be announcing further action in relation to Google’s search business in the coming weeks,” she said.

The new rules follow the CMA’s decision to designate Google with strategic market status (SMS) in general search services, allowing it to target Google’s search activities to ensure fair dealing, open choices or trust and transparency, so long as the rules are proportionate. ®