On October 10 2025, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that Google had been granted strategic market status (SMS) in search services.
Why has this decision been made?
This landmark ruling follows a nine-month investigation by the CMA into Google’s general search and search advertising practices, and a consultation in June of this year on whether the company should be formally designated with SMS.
This consultation received strong feedback from Google and more than 80 stakeholders, including the owner of the Daily Mail, DMG Media which urged the CMA to implement tougher oversight of Google’s AI Overviews after reporting a sharp 89 per cent drop in traffic.
The CMA has concluded that:
- Google does possess substantial and entrenched market power in general search and search advertising, designating the company with SMS.
- Google’s Gemini AI assistant is not in scope of the designation, but this position will be kept under review and could be amended in the future.
- AI-based search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, are in scope of the designation.
Commenting on this decision, Will Hayter, Executive Director for Digital Markets at the CMA, said:
“We have found that Google maintains a strategic position in the search and search advertising sector – with more than 90 per cent of searches in the UK taking place on its platform.
“Having considered the feedback received following our proposed decision, we have today designated Google’s search services with strategic market status.”
He added:
“By promoting competition in digital markets like search and search advertising, we can unlock opportunities for businesses, big and small, to support innovation and growth, driving investment across the UK economy.”
What being designated as SMS means
Now that the search engine behemoth has been formally recognised as having “substantial and entrenched market power” in general search and search advertising, the CMA can impose certain behavioural rules.
If applied, such measures will be designed to address Google’s dominance in the sector and should focus on preventing harm and promoting competition, ultimately ensuring fairer outcomes for consumers and other businesses.
How does Google feel about this ruling?
Google is the first company to be designated this special status.
While the technology corporation has confirmed its support for the CMA’s goal of protecting the best interests of UK consumers and businesses, it has warned of delays in launching new products and services.
In response to the decision, Google released a statement the same day which included the following:
“The UK enjoys access to the latest products and services before other countries because it has so far avoided costly restrictions on popular services, such as Search.
“Retaining this position means avoiding unduly onerous regulations and learning from the negative results seen in other jurisdictions, which have cost businesses an estimated €114 billion.
“Many of the ideas for interventions that have been raised in this process would inhibit UK innovation and growth, potentially slowing product launches at a time of profound AI-based innovation. Others pose direct harm to businesses, with some warning that they may be forced to raise prices for customers.
“Google supports the CMA’s goal to ensure the UK’s competition framework mirrors the best interests of UK consumers and businesses. We hope to see outcomes that reflect such ambitions in the crucial months ahead.”
What happens next?
The CMA expects to begin consulting on possible interventions later in the year, but what could these new rules look like?
According to its road map of possible measures to improve competition in search, targeted potential actions could include:
The CMA expects to begin consulting on possible interventions later in the year, but what could these new rules look like?
According to its road map of possible measures to improve competition in search, targeted potential actions could include:
Choice screens
One potential measure includes making it easier for people to choose, or switch, between different search engines (or even AI assistants) instead of being locked into Google by default.
This means users would have the option to select their ideal search engine (whether that’s Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or another option) when setting up their phone or browser.
Fair ranking principles
Instead of favouring its own products or services, Google would have to make sure its search results are fair and unbiased. If companies believe their website is being treated unfairly, they would be able to appeal.
Publisher controls
Websites and publishers would have more control and transparency over how their content is used in Google’s AI tools, including AI Overviews.
Google would also need to ask permission before using publishers’ content to train or display in AI-generated answers and if they refused, this wouldn’t affect whether and how they appear in Google Search.
Data portability
People would have the right to take their data with them, such as their search history, if they decided to switch from Google to another search engine. This would make it easier for new search engines to offer personalised results without starting from scratch.
Why you should care
While it’s true that, right now, these proposals are just that – proposals – and they will undergo a long process of consultations and discussions before taking their final form and being implemented.
That said, these changes could have a huge impact on the hundreds of thousands of UK businesses that rely on Google.
This is especially true if you rely on search and paid ads for search advertising.
CMA interventions could establish fairer ad competition on other search engines and result in a better Return on Investment (ROI) from your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) efforts.
Ultimately, these changes are likely to have a significant impression on the online visibility of your business and wider digital marketing activities, so it’s important to stay updated on what’s happening.
Allow Aqueous Digital to keep you updated
Dedicated to supporting the success of our customers’ businesses and staying up to date with the latest industry changes, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the CMA’s intervention consultation process as it develops.
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