UK's CMA slaps Google Search and its 90%+ market share with an antitrust investigation

Google's Market Dominance and CMA Investigation - The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Google's market dominance in search, including its AI search advancements and search advertising business [4] - Google Search accounts for over 90% of all general search queries in the UK, and more than 200,000 businesses use the platform for advertising [6] - The CMA is considering whether to designate Google's search business as having "strategic market status" (SMS), which could lead to conduct requirements or pro-competition interventions [8] Areas of Investigation - The CMA will investigate whether Google is posing weak competition and barriers to entry and innovation in search [9] - The investigation will also examine whether Google gives preference to its own services in areas like advertising and AI [1] - The CMA will look into whether Google is using large quantities of consumer data without informed consent, including content from intellectual property owners and publishers [1] Potential Remedies and Industry Impact - The investigation could result in business break-up proposals, opening up search results to competitors, or unbundling Google's search engine integrations [10] - Effective competition in search advertising could reduce costs by nearly £500 per household per year, potentially lowering prices across the economy [2] - The CMA aims to ensure a level playing field for all businesses, including rival search engines, advertisers, and news organizations [6] Google's Response to AI Competition - Google is developing its own AI search experience, called Gemini, which delivers fully-formed answers at the top of search results [3] - The company faces new competition from AI-based services like ChatGPT and Perplexity, which provide fully-formed results instead of traditional search links [11] - Google's integration of generative AI technology in search results could require it to provide AI results from other parties [3] Global Context and Legal Precedents - Google has faced multiple antitrust cases in other jurisdictions, including the US and Europe, over its search dominance [7] - The CMA is in regular contact with other authorities regarding Google's antitrust issues [7]