The Google brand logo hangs above the entrance to the Google Building, formerly known as Union Inland Terminal, on Friday, January 20, 2023 in New York City. The Google parent company Alphabet is eliminating about 12,000 jobs or 6% of the company workforce. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
The British competition regulator will seek to better regulate Google search capabilities after the government unleashed new regulatory powers on the search giant.
On Friday, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it designated Alphabet-owned Google under a “strategic market status” for Google’s advertising and search services.
“Having taken into account the feedback received following our proposed decision, we have today designated Google’s search services with strategic market status,” according to the authority.
British officials say it gives “substantial and entrenched market power” and a “position of strategic significance” on digital activity in Briths society.
Google’s Gemini AI tool failed to match the CMA’s designated area of scope, according to government officials, but added that it was not “findings of wrongdoing.”
“We have found that Google maintains a strategic position in the search and search advertising sector — with more than 90% of searches in the U.K. taking place on its platform,” stated Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the CMA.
The CMA previously said Google accounts for more than 90% of all Internet search queries in Britain, with more than 200,000 British advertisers that utilize its search advertising tools.
It followed a nearly year-long investigation by British authorities that concluded Google had market power over other Internet search platforms.
Friday’s ruling means that Google may have to alter how its search engine works in British borders.
But it’s not fully clear what that will look like, the CMA stated. It added that discussions will begin later this year.
Experts suggest it could mean Google will be required to implement a more fair search ranking system or give publishers greater control over content, including AI-related.
Google announced last month a $6 billion investment into British AI infrastructure and scientific research over the next two years to include a state-of-the-art data center north of London.
On Friday, a Google company official pointed to the billions of dollars its search product.
“Many of the ideas for interventions that have been raised in this process would inhibit UK innovation and growth, potentially slowing product launches at a time of profound AI-based innovation,” according to Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition.
