Short answer: the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has designated Google’s general search and search-advertising services as having strategic market status (SMS) under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. That designation is not a finding that Google is a criminal, or that it has already infringed competition law. It gives the CMA a framework to impose conduct requirements. The case remains open: publisher rules were imposed on 3 June 2026, fair-ranking and data-portability rules on 17 June 2026, and a further consultation on user choice was published on 23 September 2026.
What is the CMA investigating Google for?
The investigation concerns Google’s general search service and search advertising in the UK. The CMA is examining whether Google’s position gives it substantial and entrenched market power and strategic significance, and whether rules are needed to make competition work better.
The CMA said Google search accounts for more than 90% of all general-search queries in the UK. It also reported in 2025 that more than 200,000 UK firms collectively spent over £10 billion on Google search advertising in the preceding year. Those figures explain why changes to search or search advertising could affect household information, publishers and business marketing budgets.
The concerns identified by the CMA include:
- Scale and data advantages that may make it harder for rivals to improve their services.
- Search-ranking and presentation changes that can be introduced rapidly, with limited transparency about when or why they change.
- The competitive effects of default-search agreements with companies such as Apple and Samsung, which can make rival services harder to reach.
- How Google’s search-advertising position affects competition and transparency for advertisers.
- How publishers can control, understand and obtain value from the use of their content in search and artificial-intelligence features.
- Whether people and rival services can move or use search data easily enough to switch.
The CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said in June 2025 that search and search advertising are critical for UK consumers and businesses and that effective competition should deliver good outcomes. That is the policy rationale for the investigation; it is not proof that a particular consumer or business has already suffered a quantified loss.
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Has the CMA found that Google is a monopoly?
No. The CMA has made an SMS designation, not a court judgment that Google is a monopoly or a final infringement decision under competition law.
SMS is a status created by the UK’s digital-markets regime. It can apply where a firm has substantial and entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance in an activity linked to the UK. Once designated, the CMA can develop legally binding conduct requirements for that activity and monitor compliance. The designation itself does not impose a fine and does not establish that every Google practice is unlawful.
The search case began on 14 January 2025, when the CMA opened its first SMS designation investigation under the new regime. The CMA published a proposed decision and roadmap on 24 June 2025, then issued its final designation on 10 October 2025. The case is still open because conduct requirements, implementation and consultations continue.
What does strategic market status mean for Google Search?
SMS changes the regulatory process from relying only on a completed competition-law case to setting specific rules for a powerful digital activity. The CMA can consult on requirements aimed at outcomes such as fair ranking, meaningful user choice, publisher control and data portability, then monitor how Google implements them.
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For Google, this means obligations can address the way its search service operates in the UK rather than waiting for a conventional investigation to establish a completed infringement. It does not mean every algorithm change needs prior CMA approval, nor does it guarantee that rivals will win users or that advertising prices will fall.
The relevant legal basis is Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The process is regulatory and administrative, not a criminal prosecution.
What rules has the CMA imposed or proposed?
Publisher controls for AI features
On 3 June 2026, the CMA imposed a publisher conduct requirement. The package addresses transparency, attribution and controls over the use of publisher content in AI services, including Google’s AI Overviews. The practical objective is to give publishers clearer information and more ability to control how their material is used, rather than allowing search changes to determine content use without understandable safeguards.
Fair ranking
On 17 June 2026, the CMA imposed a fair-ranking conduct requirement. The concern is that Google’s scale and control over presentation could disadvantage competing services or businesses if ranking and display decisions are changed without sufficient fairness or transparency. The requirement is intended to constrain that risk; it is not a promise that any particular website will receive a higher position.
Data portability
Also on 17 June 2026, the CMA imposed a data-portability conduct requirement. Easier transfer or use of search data is intended to reduce switching and entry barriers for users and innovative rival services. The rule does not mean that all Google data is automatically exportable in every format, or that a rival can copy Google’s service.
User choice and choice screens
The CMA’s roadmap included choice screens and other measures to make it easier for people to choose a search service. A further user-choice consultation was published on 23 September 2026, so this part of the framework should be treated as under consultation rather than as a fully settled requirement at that date.
The consultation stage matters: final design, timing and compliance details can change after responses are considered. Businesses should distinguish imposed requirements from proposals or consultations when assessing likely costs and benefits.
What is the timeline?
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 14 January 2025 | The CMA launches its first SMS designation investigation, covering Google’s general search and search advertising. |
| 24 June 2025 | The CMA publishes a proposed SMS decision and roadmap, provisionally identifying choice, ranking, publisher and data issues. |
| 10 October 2025 | The CMA publishes its final SMS designation for Google’s general search services, comprising general search and search advertising. |
| 28 January 2026 | The CMA begins consultation on conduct requirements. |
| 3 June 2026 | A publisher conduct requirement is imposed. |
| 17 June 2026 | Fair-ranking and data-portability conduct requirements are imposed. |
| 23 September 2026 | The CMA publishes a further consultation on user-choice requirements. |
Is this the same as the CMA’s Google ad-tech case?
No. They are separate cases with different laws, markets and possible outcomes.
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|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. | Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998. |
| Market layer | General search and search advertising. | Online display-advertising intermediation, covering parts of the ad-tech stack. |
| Start date | 14 January 2025. | 25 May 2022. |
| Current procedural position | Google has final SMS designation; conduct requirements and consultations continue. | The CMA issued a statement of objections on 6 September 2024; the cited CMA material says no infringement conclusion should yet be drawn. |
| Groups most directly affected | Users, advertisers, publishers and rival search or AI services. | Businesses and intermediaries involved in online display advertising. |
| Regulatory focus | Choice, ranking, publisher controls and data portability. | Whether conduct in display-advertising intermediation infringed competition law and what outcome, if any, follows. |
A statement of objections is a provisional competition-law view, not a final finding. The ad-tech case therefore should not be used as evidence that the CMA has already proved an infringement by Google.
What could it mean for ordinary users?
The intended user benefits are easier switching between search services, clearer information about ranking practices, and more control over search data and the use of publisher content in AI features. Choice-screen and portability measures could lower practical barriers to trying a rival service.
There is no published final estimate of how much money households will save, whether search quality will improve by a measurable amount, or how quickly any change will reach users. Those are possible effects, not established results of the designation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What could it mean for advertisers and agencies?
Advertisers depend on Google search advertising for customer acquisition and measurement. The CMA’s concerns about competition and transparency could lead to changes in how search advertising is presented, accessed or explained, but the current material does not establish a future price reduction or a specific change to campaign performance.
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Businesses and agencies should monitor the CMA’s conduct consultations and implementation updates, document how campaigns are measured, and be prepared for changes to reporting or access. They should not treat the SMS designation as an immediate ban on Google advertising or as evidence that an existing campaign is unlawful.
What could it mean for publishers?
The publisher requirement is the most direct intervention for news and other content businesses. It addresses transparency, attribution and controls over the use of publisher material in AI services, including AI Overviews. Publishers should follow the final requirement and its implementation guidance to understand what information and controls are available.
The available material does not provide a final causal estimate of traffic losses, revenue gains or audience changes attributable to the CMA case. A publisher should therefore separate confirmed compliance rights from forecasts about referral traffic or licensing income.
What could it mean for rival search and AI services?
Data portability and user-choice measures are intended to reduce switching and entry barriers. A rival may find it easier to attract users who can transfer relevant data or encounter a more visible choice of search provider.
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Those measures do not guarantee successful entry. A competitor still needs a service that users prefer, suitable infrastructure, privacy and security controls, and the ability to operate within any final technical rules.
What happens next?
- The CMA will consider responses to the September 2026 user-choice consultation.
- It will continue supervising the publisher, fair-ranking and data-portability requirements already imposed.
- Google and affected businesses will need to implement and respond to the detailed compliance arrangements for each requirement.
- Further decisions may refine the rules, but the designation itself remains distinct from a conventional infringement ruling or a guaranteed consumer remedy.
The key point for readers is the legal distinction: Google now has SMS status for UK general search and search advertising, allowing conduct regulation, while the CMA has not thereby declared Google a monopoly or proved a competition-law infringement. The separate ad-tech investigation remains a different Chapter II case with its own procedure.
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