The UK’s regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is conducting an investigation into whether Google has too much power in online search. Google accounts for 90% of UK web searches and the CMA is investigating whether it is using its dominant position to damage competition or restrict users’ choice. This is the CMA’s first investigation since it was granted new powers to investigate and enforce changes at companies it determines have “strategic market status” in digital markets.
The CMA says it wants to ensure that Google is “delivering good outcomes for people and businesses” and that there is a “level playing field” for its rivals. Google says it will cooperate with the investigation, but it has warned against overly restrictive digital competition regulation. In a statement, Google said: “We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites and still allow people in the UK to benefit from helpful and cutting-edge services.”
The CMA’s investigation is the latest in a series of investigations that Google is facing throughout the world. In the US, the government has ruled that Google should sell its browser, Chrome, to address what it describes as an “illegal monopoly in search and related advertising.”
The CMA says potential changes that it could impose include sharing data that Google collects with other businesses or giving publishers greater oversight of how their data is used for Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) features. Its concerns centre on whether Google is using its position in search to prevent rivals from innovating or entering the market, or if it is “self-preferencing” its own products. It will also investigate whether Google is collecting large quantities of user data without proper, informed consent.
The CMA has nine months to complete its investigation and has two options at its disposal if it finds Google to have strategic market status – imposing rules on how it behaves or making interventions designed to increase competition. The CMA is expected to conduct further investigations under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Act in the coming months. The regime offers greater flexibility than legislation such as the EU’s Digital Markets Act in adapting any interventions or requirements to market specifics
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More