UK's CMA to force Google to give publishers control over AI content use

LONDON — The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will force Google to give publishers greater control over how their content is used in artificial intelligence-generated search results, it announced on Wednesday.

Under the U.K.’s digital market regime, the CMA can impose “conduct requirements” on activities designated with “strategic market status.” Google search was given SMS status last year.

The latest conduct requirement comes after Google said it plans to increasingly respond to search queries with AI-generated responses, raising fears among publishers of a drastic drop-off in traffic.

CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said the CMA had introduced “a world‑first requirement on Google’s search services in the U.K., enabling fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers.”

Google will be required to provide publishers with “effective controls” over the use of their content — including when it's used to produce “AI Overviews” and, following feedback from publishers, to “fine-tune” Google’s AI models. The tech giant must also give “clear, comprehensible and user-friendly information” about how publisher content is used by Google’s generative AI tools.

“This will put publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google,” the CMA said.

Google will also be required to “take reasonable steps to ensure that search content is attributed clearly and accurately in general search” and provide publishers with “clear and detailed metrics” about how AI features are impacting user engagement.

The CMA said Google has nine months to make the changes and the watchdog would be “actively monitoring” compliance, and said it could “bring forward work on further measures to ensure a fair exchange of value between Google and publishers.”

News Media Association CEO Theo Bamber said the requirements were “a significant step towards leveling the playing field and building a fair, transparent digital economy where premium content is properly respected and fairly compensated.”

A Google spokesperson directed POLITICO to a blog post published on Wednesday which said it would introduce new search controls for publishers, beginning in the U.K., following engagement with the CMA.