UK Forces Google to Let Publishers Opt Out of AI Overviews

TLDR:

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority on January 28, 2026, proposed rules requiring Google to permit publishers to opt out of content usage in AI Overviews and model training without harming search rankings, amid reports of traffic declines for news sites.

Credit: Google

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority designated Google as holding strategic market status in online search last October, enabling the watchdog to impose conduct requirements aimed at fostering competition.

The authority on January 28, 2026, outlined proposals compelling Google to grant publishers the ability to exclude their content from AI Overviews, the generative summaries atop certain search results, and from training standalone AI models like Gemini, all without penalty to their positions in standard search listings.

Publishers, including news organizations, have experienced reduced visitor traffic since the rollout of AI Overviews, as users less frequently click through to source articles.

The CMA's measures also call for Google to ensure fair ranking of search results, avoiding favoritism toward sites linked by advertising or other commercial arrangements, and to implement choice screens on Android devices and Chrome browsers, facilitating easier switches to alternative search engines.

"They would also provide a fairer deal for content publishers, particularly news organisations, over how their content is used in Google's AI Overviews," said CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell.

Google, which processes more than 90% of U.K. search queries, currently crawls web content to fuel its AI features like AI Overview and AI Mode in Google Search.

The company stated it anticipates collaboration with the CMA and ongoing dialogue with site owners.

“We’re now exploring updates to our controls to let sites specifically opt out of Search generative AI features,” Ron Eden, Google’s principal for product management, said in a blog post.

The CMA opened a consultation period for feedback on the proposals, set to conclude on February 25, 2026.