London – The Competition and Markets Authority has announced a new conduct requirement today that will, among other things, require Google to provide publishers with additional controls over the use of their search content in generative AI. Google has announced global changes that let publishers manage how their links and content appear in generative AI Search features.
Since the UK’s digital markets competition regime came into force last year, the CMA has opened four strategic market status investigations under the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act. This is the first conduct requirement to follow such an investigation. The CMA has said today’s requirement is the first in a series of updates on its digital markets work expected over the coming months.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Senior Director and head of CCIA’s London office Matthew Sinclair:
“New controls for publishers continue the longstanding work responsible AI developers have done to give rights holders control over how their content is used. The CMA should work to strike the right balance and support innovation in a search service that benefits millions of British users. The Government has rightly put supporting the deployment of AI at the heart of its economic programme. Yet that ambition will only be realised if the competition regulator provides the stable regulatory environment needed to make it a reality, including in search.”
