UK competition watchdog forces Google to give publishers control over AI search

LONDON — The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will force Google to give publishers greater control over how their content is used in AI-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 designated with 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.