UK Regulator Gives Publishers Opt-Out Rights From Google AI Overviews, Requires Clear Attribution

The Competition and Markets Authority has imposed conduct requirements on Google that let publishers block the company from using their material in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Under the rules, publishers that allow their content in ordinary Google search results will no longer be automatically included in AI Overview responses.

They will be able to opt out of appearing in those summaries and to prevent their content from being used to update the underlying AI models.

Google must also ensure that any publisher content shown in overview results is clearly flagged and attributed with direct links. The company has nine months to implement the changes, though the CMA said it wants swift action on the most important elements.

Google announced on Wednesday that it is testing a new control allowing website owners to manage how their links and content appear in AI features.

The company said it will also provide websites with more information about how much their content is being used in those features. The controls will first be trialled with a subset of UK websites before a global rollout. The complaint that prompted the CMA action was filed last July by Tim Cowen, the Independent Publishers Alliance and the Foxglove campaign group.

Cowen, a co-founder of the Movement for an Open Web and competition lawyer at Preiskel, said the decision creates a baseline that prevents Google from simply taking content without permission. “The devil in the detail is that we can see Google exploiting the vagueness of what gets reported and when,” Cowen said.

” AG Sulzberger, chair of the New York Times, said the publisher has spent $20 million on lawsuits against OpenAI and Perplexity over the use of its copyrighted content.

Publishers have reported sharp drops in traffic and revenue since their material began appearing in AI summaries. The News Media Association called the CMA decision a significant step toward levelling the playing field. The SPUR coalition, which includes the BBC, Guardian, Financial Times, Telegraph and Sky, added 20 more major publishers this week as it seeks common standards for AI content deals.

The FT and Washington Post have already reached agreements with OpenAI. The Guardian has signed deals with OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Microsoft allowing use of its journalism in some generative AI products. The CMA is using new powers to set bespoke rules for major technology firms it deems to have strategic market status.

Google is the world’s largest search engine.