UK publishers have been issued new protections in the AI age by the Competition and Markets Authority, which said Google must offer publishers the option to opt out of AI Overviews.

Google has been given strategic market status in the UK search market, meaning it will be under the remit of stricter regulations by the CMA.

Upon launching its AI Overview, Google was met with stiff rebuffs from publishers which had no way of regulating Google’s access to their published information online.

As a result, websites have seen a continued downturn in traffic as less and less Google users click into websites, often getting the same information from a Google AI Overview.

The CMA will now enable publishers to opt out of having their information on a Google AI Overview.

Further, Google AI search results must also properly attribute any content to its relvant publisher, with links to their site.

Publishers can also opt-out of having their content used for the ‘fine-tuning’ of AI models.

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“Today, we have introduced a world‑first requirement on Google’s search services in the UK, enabling fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers,” Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said.

“With features like AI Overviews rapidly reshaping online search, it is crucial that content publishers, including news organisations, have appropriate bargaining power over how their content is used. At the same time, these measures will help tens of millions of UK search users better understand and trust the information presented to them.

“It’s also important that any action we take in this space can move with the times. Google has recently announced changes to its search business and the requirements we’ve introduced today are designed to respond to what Google is doing now and in the future. We’ll also continue to use the unique flexibility of the UK regime to monitor and address future concerns as they arise and we will be announcing further action in relation to Google’s search business in the coming weeks.”