Google Faces Scrutiny Over AI Search Summaries in UK

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an assessment in late June 2025. They are striving to discover how Google employs AI to summarize web content in search results and manages its ad services. The review focuses on ensuring equitable treatment of content creators and clarity for advertisers under the UK's new digital markets regime.

Concerns Over Traffic Diversion and Ad Transparency

The CMA is concerned that automatically generated snippets may divert traffic from original publishers and obscure how ads are shown. The authority questions whether such summaries fairly reference original sources and respect publishers' rights.

The review also examines whether ad placement and pricing remain transparent when AI features alter search page layouts. The CMA seeks to determine if these changes reduce revenue for content creators and limit choice for advertisers.

Potential Interventions and Timeline

The CMA's initial roadmap highlights potential interventions, including requiring clear labeling of AI-generated summaries, ensuring publishers can opt out of automated snippet use, and improving visibility of ad formats and costs.

The authority will request information from Google, seek input from publishers and advertisers, and may propose measures such as clearer attribution, choice mechanisms, or data portability. The CMA could mandate changes under its ‘strategic market status' (SMS) powers if evidence shows harm to competition. (Note: SMS for Google is currently put under consideration.)

Google handles over 90% of UK search queries, making it the first candidate for scrutiny under the Digital Markets Competition Regime enacted in January 2025. The CMA plans to conclude consultations and reach a decision on designation by October 2025, with interventions phased in from 2026.