The UK's competition watchdog has announced that web publishers and news organisations will now be able to opt out of AI overviews of Google search results.
New rules empower publishers
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said its new rules will put “publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google”.
The intervention comes after complaints by media organisations that they have experienced a drop in click-through traffic to their websites – and therefore their revenue – since Google started posting AI summaries at the top of search results.
CMA chief executive statement
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said in a statement: “With features like AI Overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used. At the same time, these measures will help tens of millions of UK search users better understand and trust the information presented to them. It’s also important that any action we take in this space can move with the times. Google has recently announced changes to its search business and the requirements we’ve introduced today are designed to respond to what Google is doing now and in the future. We’ll also continue to use the unique flexibility of the UK regime to monitor and address future concerns as they arise and we will be announcing further action in relation to Google’s search business in the coming weeks.”
Proper attribution and opt-out
Under the new rules, Google will also now have to make sure that publisher content is “properly attributed”, using clear links in AI search results. It will also have to allow publishers to opt out of allowing their content to be used for the “fine-tuning of AI models” which will provide “publishers with confidence that they will have control over the full range of AI use-cases of their content”, the CMA said.
The agenda includes the Eurozone services PMI at 9am BST, UK services PMI at 9.30am BST, US services PMI at 3pm BST, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum today, and the FTSE reshuffle to be announced after market close.
