{"id":27916,"date":"2026-01-28T17:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/uk-watchdog-moves-to-curb-googles-search-engine-dominance-lets-websites-block-ai-overviews-tech-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:19:55","slug":"uk-watchdog-moves-to-curb-googles-search-engine-dominance-lets-websites-block-ai-overviews-tech-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/uk-watchdog-moves-to-curb-googles-search-engine-dominance-lets-websites-block-ai-overviews-tech-news\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Watchdog Moves To Curb Google\u2019s Search Engine Dominance, Lets Websites Block AI Overviews | Tech News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Britain’s watchdog proposes letting websites opt out of Google AI Overviews, aiming for fairer deals for websites and better control for businesses and consumers.<\/h2>\n
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According to website publishers, particularly media outlets, the AI-generated summaries discourage clicks to publishers’ original pages, reducing traffic to their sites and in turn cutting their advertising revenue. (AP)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Britain\u2019s competition watchdog on Wednesday proposed to allow websites to opt out of having content used by Google\u2019s \u201cAI Overviews” feature.<\/p>\n

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said the proposal, which is out for consultation till February 25, \u201cwould give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google\u2019s search services”.<\/p>\n

She further said that it \u201cwould also provide a fairer deal for content publishers, particularly news organisations, over how their content is used in Google\u2019s AI Overviews”.<\/p>\n

According to AFP, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in October paved the way for tougher regulation on the matter, under new targeted measures focused on technology giants.<\/p>\n

Under the latest proposal by CMA, publishers \u201cbe able to opt out of their content being used to power AI features such as AI Overviews or to train AI models outside of Google search”.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle will also be required to take practical steps to ensure publisher content is properly attributed in AI results,” it added.<\/p>\n

AFP quoted website publishers, particularly media outlets, stating that the AI-generated summaries discourage clicks to publishers\u2019 original pages, reducing traffic to their sites and in turn cutting their advertising revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle is able to extract valuable data without reward, harming publishers and giving the company an unfair advantage over competitors in the AI model market,” said Owen Meredith, chief executive of industry group, News Media Association.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Google, which is relied on by over 200,000 businesses for advertising to reach customers, said it was already working on updating its controls \u201cto let sites specifically opt out of search generative AI features”.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny new controls need to avoid breaking search in a way that leads to a fragmented or confusing experience for people,” the company\u2019s principal for product management, Ron Eden, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

One of the other proposals by CMA is displaying a screen to allow changing a user\u2019s default search engine, and rules guaranteeing a fair ranking of results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese measures will give publishers \u2014 including news and other content producers \u2014 stronger bargaining power and support the long-term sustainability of trusted information online,” Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the CMA, said in a blog post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will also help people verify sources in AI-generated results and build trust in what they see,” he added.<\/p>\n

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