British antitrust regulators have mandated that Google must make its search rankings more equitable and provide businesses with advance notification of significant changes to its search services, giving the technology giant six months to comply.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued conduct requirements for Google under the UK’s digital markets competition rules. The directive requires the company to use objective and nondiscriminatory criteria when ranking search results on its platform, including summaries generated through its AI Overviews service.
According to the regulatory order, Google must enhance transparency regarding how its ranking systems operate and establish clear procedures for businesses to voice concerns about result rankings. The company will also be required to provide advance notice of any changes to its search services.
Will Hayter, the CMA’s executive director for digital markets, emphasized the importance of the new measures. “Search is a vital gateway for businesses in the UK to reach customers, and clearer, predictable and more transparent ranking systems could give them greater scope to expand and invest,” Hayter said. “These new measures will ensure search results are ranked fairly and objectively.”
The conduct requirements were issued following complaints received by the CMA alleging that Google’s existing ranking practices lacked fairness and that modifications were implemented without adequate notice. Businesses reported that these practices caused harm and left them without effective channels to address their concerns.
In response to the regulatory action, a Google spokesperson defended the company’s current practices. “We are committed to protecting the integrity of our systems, and will work constructively with the CMA to ensure that we can uphold the high quality of Search for our users,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company’s ranking systems were fair, transparent and showed the most relevant and highest quality results.
Beyond the ranking requirements, the CMA issued an additional directive concerning user data portability. The order mandates that Google must enable users to easily share their search data with rewards platforms, companies offering personalized offers or discount codes, and other third parties.
While Google currently operates a Data Portability Application Programming Interface that allows users to build applications for exporting data from Google products, the CMA indicated that the new conduct requirement would transform this voluntary process into a legally binding obligation.
Google has been given three months to comply with the data sharing directive. The CMA stated that this requirement would grant UK users the same data sharing rights as those enjoyed by users in the European Union under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.