Google Search faces first UK probe under tough digital rules

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is facing the first UK investigation under the tougher antitrust rules for the digital market over concerns that it’s distorting the market in search and online advertising services.

The Competition and Markets Authority will decide whether the US tech giant must be designated with so-called strategic market status in the online search and advertising market. The new rules that came into effect this month give the CMA more powers around demanding information from companies, hand out hefty fines on firms and impose remedies to boost competition.

“The CMA will assess how competition is working and if Google is using its position to prevent innovation by others,” the CMA said in a statement.

The antitrust probe is among a series of high-profile investigations as global regulators seek to tackle the dominance of a handful of all-powerful tech firms. The announcement comes as Google is fighting an order in the US to sell its Chrome web browser and faces a second Trump administration determined to crack down on the biggest tech companies.

Google’s spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to an email for comment.

Under the digital markets competition regime the regulator can impose conduct requirements on Google, such as directing it to make the data it collects available to other businesses or giving publishers more control over how their data is used, the CMA said.

The investigation, expected to last nine months, will assess “Google’s position in search and search advertising services and how this impacts consumers and businesses including advertisers, news publishers, and rival search engines.”

Google accounts for more than 90% of all online search queries in the UK, according to the CMA. 

The probe will focus on whether Google is able to shape the development of new artificial intelligence services, including “answer engines,” in anti-competitive ways and if the search engine giant is using its position in the market to prioritize its own services such as shopping and travel.