The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed granting Google “strategic market status” (SMS) in the UK’s general search and search advertising sectors.
This designation, pending consultation and a final decision by October 2025, would empower the CMA to implement targeted measures to regulate Google’s operations in the UK.
If confirmed, the CMA’s roadmap includes early priorities such as requiring choice screens for users to access various search providers, ensuring fair ranking principles for businesses, enhancing transparency for publishers regarding their content, and enabling consumer data portability to foster innovation.
Google currently dominates the UK search market, accounting for more than 90% of general search queries and serving millions of users and over 200,000 businesses reliant on its advertising services.
The CMA’s investigation has highlighted several concerns, including Google’s extensive website index, access to vast historical search data, and a challenging ecosystem for competitors to replicate.
Issues such as high search advertising costs, limited transparency in ranking and presentation of search results, and difficulties for publishers in securing fair terms for their content have also been raised.
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By GlobalDataAdditionally, default agreements with mobile manufacturers and barriers to data sharing hinder competition, the watchdog said.
Under the new Digital Markets Competition Regime, the CMA aims to promote competition while safeguarding consumers and businesses from unfair practices.
The CMA’s initial measures include implementing choice screens for easier selection of search services, ensuring fair ranking of results, and providing publishers with greater control over their content, especially in AI-generated responses.
A second phase of actions, starting in 2026, will tackle more complex issues, including Google’s bargaining power with publishers and transparency in search advertising.
The CMA is also considering the impact of generative AI on the search landscape, noting that while AI assistant usage is growing, it remains significantly smaller than Google’s search platform.
The proposed SMS designation would encompass AI-based search features but exclude Google’s Gemini AI assistant, with plans for future reviews as usage evolves.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “Google is the world’s leading search tool and plays an important role in all our lives, with the average person in the UK making 5 to 10 searches a day.
“It is equally critical for over 200,000 UK businesses which rely on Google to reach their customers. Google search has delivered tremendous benefits – but our investigation so far suggests there are ways to make these markets more open, competitive and innovative.”
The CMA is currently seeking feedback on its proposed designation and roadmap, with a final decision on Google’s SMS status expected by 13 October 2025.
Concurrently, the CMA is exploring SMS designations in mobile ecosystems and will assess the potential for further investigations in early 2026.
