Britain’s competition regulator has launched a decisive move to reshape the terrain of online search by targeting Google with unprecedented oversight. By designating Google’s general search and search advertising services as holding ““strategic market status,”“ the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is signaling that Google no longer simply dominates but must be regulated—potentially redefining how search works in the UK and recalibrating the balance of power between Big Tech, publishers, and users.

The Strategic Market Status Designation and Its Rationale

The CMA’s decision follows a near-nine-month deep dive into Google’s grip on the UK search ecosystem. Its investigators concluded that Google enjoys “substantial and entrenched market power”, with over 90% of all general search queries in the UK flowing through its platform. That dominance, the CMA argues, presents structural barriers to competition in both search services and search advertising channels.

Under the UK’s new “Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024”, firms with dominant power in specified digital markets can be designated as “strategic market status” (SMS). Once designated, the regulator gains the authority to impose “conduct requirements, targeted interventions, and oversight”—even without proving wrongdoing. Google’s SMS status doesn’t itself assert any malfeasance; instead, it opens a pathway for future regulatory prescriptions aimed at rebalancing the competitive field.

Importantly, while Google’s Gemini AI assistant is excluded from the current designation, many of its AI-based search features (for example, “AI Overviews”) are included. This signals that the CMA views Google’s evolving AI-driven search tools as integral to its core business and subject to oversight. The regulator intends to begin consultations on proposed interventions later in the year, with a final decision expected by October.

What’s at Stake: Fairer Rankings, Publisher Control, and Choice Screens

The stakes in the CMA’s roadmap are high. Potential regulatory actions include demanding “fairer ranking algorithms”, requiring “choice screens” to allow users to switch or pick alternative search providers, increasing “transparency and control for publishers”, and facilitating “portability of search data” so other services can more easily enter the market.

Choice screens, in particular, could force Google to present users with other search engine alternatives or AI assistants—not as buried options but as visible, selectable choices. That shift could undermine one of Google’s core advantages: the default status embedded in browsers, smartphones, and operating systems. For publishers and news outlets, the CMA’s proposals would also grant greater say in how their content is used, especially in AI-generated responses where automated summaries often divert traffic from original sources.

The CMA’s concerns extend to advertising too. It notes that search advertisement costs in a healthier competitive environment would likely be lower, and that Google’s dual role as search provider and ad marketplace risks skewing outcomes in its favor.

Google’s Pushback: Innovation Risk and Regulatory Overreach

Unsurprisingly, Google has pushed back. The company argues that many of the proposed interventions are vague, overly broad, and risk constraining innovation. Google warns that heavy regulation could slow or block new product introductions in a moment when AI-driven search evolution is in overdrive.

From Google’s perspective, SMS status threatens to convert a flexible platform into one encumbered by mandated design constraints—rules about ranking, feature rollout, compatibility, and data flows. In public statements, company representatives have emphasized that Google Search contributes billions to the UK economy and that thoughtful regulation should avoid discouraging investment or limiting feature access that benefits users and businesses.

Google further argues that regulatory uncertainty—frequent in Europe—already hinders rapid deployment of features in the UK, a disadvantage in the race to lead in AI and cloud services. The company hopes the consultation phase will yield outcomes that preserve innovation while accommodating regulatory guardrails.

This regulatory move comes as jurisdictions around the world sharpen their tools to rein in Big Tech. In parallel with the UK’s push, the European Union is enforcing its Digital Markets Act (DMA), the U.S. is debating antitrust actions against major platforms, and other countries are examining algorithmic transparency and digital competition policies.

Within the UK, the CMA is also examining Google’s mobile and app ecosystems—especially default arrangements on smartphones—as part of a broader push to bring greater fairness to how tech giants wield platform control. Should Google’s SMS designation prove viable, it may set a precedent for designating other platforms and services across search, mobile, and AI-based models.

Politically, this moment is delicate. The UK government is balancing regulation with growth imperatives. Big tech investment in AI, cloud infrastructure, and data centers is substantial in the UK, and overly aggressive regulation risks spooking business confidence. Some critics already view the CMA’s approach as more performative than powerful—symbolic leverage in a shifting political climate.

Impacts Across the Ecosystem: Users, Publishers, Rivals

For everyday users, the promise is greater choice and transparency. In place of opaque rank ordering and hidden prioritization logic, search results may become more contestable, with alternative engines or AI models clearly presented. Users could also gain control over how their data is used and flow it to new services dynamically.

Publishers and news organizations welcome the possibility of fairer treatment. Many have long contended that Google’s dominance and AI‐summary features siphon away traffic, reduce ad revenues, and leave them with little recourse. Under regulation, they could secure stronger licensing terms, attribution, or even compensation when their content appears in AI responses or aggregated search snippets.

For rival search engines and AI assistants, this could be a rare opening. Lower barriers to entry, clearer data portability, and visible user choice could enable challengers to gain a foothold in markets previously locked by default structures. Startups and academic entrants, however, will still need to compete on quality, scale, and speed.

In the coming months, the CMA will move from provisional status toward concrete regulation. Consultation rounds will allow Google, publishers, tech rivals, civil society, and consumer advocates to shape the contours of reform. The CMA pledges a “specially tailored” set of interventions to ensure proportionality, predictability, and minimal harm to innovation.

But the agency’s success will depend heavily on enforcement. The power to designate is only the first step; compelling Google to redesign search logic, user interfaces, or contractual terms is far harder. Google is a global technology powerhouse with deep financial, technical, and legal resources. Efforts to enforce rules must survive constitutional, cross-jurisdictional, and commercial resistance.

Internationally, Google may push back by shifting more development or investment into jurisdictions with lighter regulation, or by rearchitecting systems to evade parts of the UK regime. Competitors may also contest the scope of what counts as “search” or “critical AI features” to seek carveouts. The UK’s approach will be watched closely by regulators elsewhere as a potential model—or cautionary tale—for rein in platform power without stifling growth.

In refocusing attention on “why Google search has come under renewed scrutiny in the UK,” the deeper narrative is about choice, power, and control over the digital gateway to knowledge. In a landscape where search and AI define visibility, influence, and commerce, Google’s dominance is no longer just a business triumph—it is a regulatory battleground.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)