When Robius first covered this case in January 2025, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority was asking whether Google met the legal test for strategic market status in general search and search advertising.
That question has now been answered. The more useful story is what happened after the designation.
On October 10, 2025, the CMA designated Google with strategic market status, or SMS, in general search and search advertising. The regulator said Google had substantial and entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance.
There is an important caveat: SMS designation is not a finding that Google broke the law. It gives the CMA powers to impose targeted requirements on the designated activity.
AI Overviews are part of the regulated search activity
The CMA confirmed that AI-based search features including AI Overviews and AI Mode fall within Google’s search designation. Google’s separate Gemini AI assistant was not included in that designation, although the CMA said it would keep the position under review.
That distinction matters. The UK is not treating every Google AI product as one regulatory object. It is regulating the AI features embedded inside the search service that already holds strategic market status.
The first rules are now in force
On June 3, 2026, the CMA imposed a publisher conduct requirement. It gives publishers more control over how content collected for Google Search is used in AI search features and requires measures around attribution and publisher choice.
The CMA described the publisher opt-out for content used to power AI features in Google Search as a world first.
On June 17, the CMA added fair-ranking and data-portability requirements. The ranking rules apply to search results including AI Overviews. The data-portability requirement means Google must provide tools, free of charge, that let third parties access a UK consumer’s search data when that consumer authorizes it.
Why this became more important than the original investigation
The January 2025 article focused on Google’s scale: more than 90% of UK general search queries and a huge search-advertising business. By 2026, the regulatory question had shifted from is Google strategically important? to what rules should apply to the gateway?
For publishers, the AI part is especially significant. Search engines are no longer only ranking links. They can summarize publisher material directly inside generated answers. That changes the bargaining question from ranking alone to attribution, reuse and whether a publisher can say no.
The Robius takeaway
“Under investigation” was the January 2025 state. It is no longer the right headline.
Google Search is now an SMS-designated UK service with live conduct requirements. The interesting test is whether those rules materially change publisher control, search ranking disputes and the ability of competitors to build products using data consumers choose to move.
Source: UK Competition and Markets Authority, Google general search and search advertising case, last updated June 17, 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/googles-general-search-and-search-advertising-services
Source: CMA, strategic market status decision, October 10, 2025 — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-confirms-google-has-strategic-market-status-in-search-services
Source: CMA, publisher conduct requirement, June 3, 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-secures-fairer-deal-for-publishers-and-improves-google-search-services-in-uk
Source: CMA, fair-ranking and data-portability requirements, June 17, 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-cma-action-to-secure-a-fairer-deal-for-businesses-and-improve-google-search-services-in-uk
Robius.news — Dubai, UAE — 2026 | Built to be first. Built to be trusted.
