By Guardian staff reporter
Publication Date: 2026-06-03 06:23:00
Publishers can opt out of having their content used to train Google’s AI models and power its search summaries, Britain’s competition watchdog announced, as it imposes new behavioral requirements on search services.
“Publishers now have effective tools to prevent their content from being used to support AI features in search, such as AI overviews,” the Competition and Markets Authority said.
“This will put publishers such as news organizations in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google.
“To increase consumer trust, Google must now also ensure that publishers’ content is properly attributed in AI-generated search results, using unique links.”
The CMA said the requirement was introduced following its decision to award Google strategic market status in general search services. The idea of disabling AI search aggregation was first proposed in January.
“The designation allows the CMA to introduce targeted rules known as ‘Conduct…’
