UK regulator says publishers can opt out of Google AI search summaries

(Sharecast News) - Britain's competition watchdog on Wednesday said web publishers and news organisations will now be able to opt out of artificial intelligence overviews of Google search results.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) acted after media organisations complained of a hit to revenues due to lower click-through traffic to their websites since the tech giant began posting AI summaries at the top of search results.

Google has nine months to implement all the required changes to its search services, the CMA said, adding the new rules would put "publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals".

However, the CMA warned it expected "important parts of the controls to become available to publishers well before that deadline".

The changes come after the CMA last year designated Google with strategic market status in general search services - effectively placing the firm under a special regulatory regime with the regulator able to order changes as to how Google operates in those areas.

"With features like AI Overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used. At the same time, these measures will help tens of millions of UK search users better understand and trust the information presented to them," said CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com