By Imran Rahman-Jonesand and Laura Cress, BBC technology reporters
ONLINE PUBLISHERS can choose not to appear in the AI Overviews of Google search results in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced.
The competition regulator said this would “put publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google”.
Many websites have complained that they have seen a large drop in traffic since Google started placing AI summaries at the top of its search results page.
In a blog published on Wednesday, Google said it was testing new features allowing website owners to take their sites out of AI search.
These features will be trialled in the UK first before rolling out globally.
Google added it was engaging with regulators “to ensure website owners have the right tools as user preferences evolve”.
Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from its generative AI results.
But Google noted that withdrawing from AI search features would not affect how they are ranked in the main search results.
The CMA said Google must properly attribute publishers’ content which appears in its AI search results, with clear links to their sites.
Will Hayter, the CMA’s executive director for digital markets, told the BBC’s Today programme users would see the difference, and it was important “people can trust what they’re reading”.
“It is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used,” said CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell.
She said this was a “world-first requirement,” adding it would result in “fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers”.
Theo Bamber, chief executive of News Media Association, which represents UK news publishers including the Financial Times and Guardian Media Group, called the move a “significant step” towards building a “fair digital economy”.
“It’s the job of the CMA to make this happen, but it needs strong and consistent political support,” he said.
“Only then will we see meaningful progress towards a system of fair and reasonable payment for publisher content which is crucial for the future of high-quality journalism.”
How Google search has changed
Google controls more than 90% of the online search market in the UK according to the CMA, and for almost 30 years websites and publishers have relied heavily on its search results to drive users to their businesses.
However, many have said they’ve seen a drop in traffic since Google moved links to other sites down the search results page, with AI overviews displayed at the top instead.
Some people have also switched from using traditional search engines to other AI chatbots, which produce answers to questions based on information they have scraped from existing websites.
If a publisher opts out of appearing in Google’s AI search results, the CMA says this gives them leverage to negotiate their own deals to be paid for the content the AI uses in its results.
Google has nine months to bring all the changes in, but the CMA says it wants to see “important parts” of the requirements implemented earlier.
Hayter said Google’s announcement that it was testing controls already meant the changes would likely be seen much sooner.
The CMA has extra powers over Google and other large tech companies, as they are designated as having an influential position in the digital market.
It says it will be monitoring developments in Google search and has to power to act further if need be.
In May, Google announced more AI integration into its search box, which the CMA says it is monitoring – “including assessing the implications for businesses”.
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