U.K. Regulator to Let Publishers Keep Content Out of Google Search's AI Tool — Update

By Adria Calatayud and Edith Hancock

U.K. antitrust regulators said they would allow publishers to opt out of feeding their content to power artificial-intelligence features in Google's online searches.

The Competition and Markets Authority said Wednesday that the move aims to give publishers control over how their content is used by AI and put them in a stronger position to negotiate with Google.

The tech giant has developed its own AI platform, Gemini, and rolled out AI features in its traditional search engine.

Regulators have grown increasingly concerned with how Google powers its AI tools, which essentially aggregate information on the internet to answer users' queries in addition to Google Search's links to other websites. The European Commission started in December an antitrust investigation into whether Google imposes unfair terms on publishers or is hurting competition online by giving itself privileged access to third-party content for its AI features.

It is also the next step in the U.K. watchdog's bid to enforce the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumer bill, which seeks to level the playing field for businesses online. Under the law, tech companies like Google are labeled as having strategic status due to their control over dominant platforms like search engines. Once designated, the CMA can impose so-called conduct requirements for them to follow.

Mrinalini Loew, general manager of Google's Search Ecosystem, said in a blog post Wednesday that the company is listening to publishers and engaging with the CMA. It said it is starting to test a new tool that lets website owners manage how their content appears in AI search features, saying that sites that do choose to opt out of appearing in AI search results will not receive traffic from them, and how sites use the tool won't factor into how their content is ranked in reach outside of its AI services.

"We are beginning to roll these features out to a subset of website owners in the UK, allowing for thorough testing before rolling them out to website owners globally," Loew said.

The CMA said it is monitoring the changes Google implemented and their implications for businesses. The CMA deems Google's search service to have strategic market status, which allows the regulator to introduce targeted requirements on how it operates.

"With features like AI Overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organizations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used," CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said.

News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com and to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2026 05:16 ET (09:16 GMT)