UK orders Google to improve AI search attribution, give publishers opt-out controls

The United Kingdom has imposed tough new rules on Google Search to address competition concerns, mandating clearer attributions to publishers’ content in its AI-powered search features and providing publishers with an opt-out option.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday, June 3, said Google would be required to make sure content from publishers, ​including news organisations, was properly attributed in AI‑generated search results, using ​clear links.

The country’s competition watchdog has previously flagged concerns about Google’s dominance in search. For context, Google reportedly accounts for more than 90 per cent of search queries in the UK.

The new rules were imposed under the country’s digital markets competition regime, under which Google has been designated with ​the “strategic market status” that allows the CMA to set targeted rules to increase trust and ​transparency.

The regulatory action against Google comes at a time when news websites and other publishers globally are witnessing a sharp drop in click-through rates as a growing number of users turn to AI chatbots or generative AI-powered search features such as Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews to look up information online.

While Google AI Mode and AI Overview display links to source content, there have been instances where the cited sources did not adequately support the AI-generated response to the user’s query. Requiring Google to ensure clearer attribution may help improve the accuracy of AI Mode and AI Overview summaries.

Meanwhile, Google’s search services continue to face regulatory scrutiny across the world, including in the United ​States and European Union.

“In a world first, publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews. This will put publishers, like news organizations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google,” the CMA said in its notice. “Google has ⁠recently announced changes to its search business and the requirements we’ve introduced today are designed to respond to what Google is doing now and in the future,” CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell was quoted as saying by Reuters.

-The Indian Express