The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into Google’s search dominance, marking the first major probe under new digital market rules.
The investigation could force changes to Google’s search business in the UK, where it controls over 90% of general search queries and serves 200,000+ advertisers.
The big picture. This probe follows the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent move to break up Google’s search monopoly and comes as AI reshapes online search.
Key details:
- The investigation falls under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC).
- CMA will assess if Google has “strategic market status.” Such a designation would give regulators the power to mandate changes.
- The agency is concerned about Google’s impact on news publishers and emerging AI search competitors.
Why we care. This investigation could change how Google displays and ranks ads in search results, potentially affecting ad costs and visibility. If regulators force Google to be more transparent or alter its search algorithms, it could impact ad targeting capabilities and ROI on search advertising spend.
What they’re saying. “We want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed,” said Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive.
Google “looks forward to engaging constructively and laying out how our services benefit UK consumers and also businesses, as well as the trade-offs inherent in any new regulations”, the company responded in a statement today.
What’s next. If designated with strategic market status, Google could face new restrictions on how it operates search and handles user data in the UK.
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About the author
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu’s career started with
delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event – PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup.
She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna) and more.