The UK Competition and Markets Authority has imposed a new behavioral requirement on Google Search, allowing publishers to opt out of having their content used in AI search features.
The requirement follows the CMA’s decision to assign Google strategic market status in general search. It is subject to the UK digital markets competition regime, the framework created by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
For the avoidance of doubt, awarding Google this status does not mean that the company has violated competition law.
What Google needs to do
The requirement imposes three obligations on Google.
Google needs to provide a way for sites to opt out of AI search features like AI Overviews and AI Mode. According to the CMA, greater control can increase 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 publisher opt-out is a world first.
Google must also attribute publisher content with clear links in AI-generated results.
Cardell said:
“As features such as AI overviews rapidly transform online search, it is vital that content publishers, including news organizations, have the appropriate bargaining power over the use of their content. At the same time, these measures will help tens of millions of UK search users better understand and trust the information presented to them.”
Timeline and oversight
Most requirements take effect six months after publication. Google has nine months to introduce page-level controls for AI search features.
Google will also be required 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 hasn’t said how the opt-out will work, including whether publishers will manage it through a robots.txt statement, Search Console, or another method.
Why this is important
The main way to keep content out of AI overviews was 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 described in the CMA, would eliminate this trade-off for publishers whose content reaches UK users.
Looking ahead
The CMA said it would announce further action on Google’s search business in the coming weeks. The rule came into effect in 2025 and the agency has since launched four strategic market status investigations against Google, Apple and Microsoft.
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