Google search has been told to give publishers more control over their content, leaving the printing press to wonder whether it has finally been invited to the meeting about its own future, or merely shown the waiting room.
On 3 June 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement on Google search under the UK digital markets competition regime. The requirement gives publishers stronger bargaining power over how their content is used, including effective tools to opt out of content powering AI features in Google search.
Google must also provide clear links and attribution when publisher content appears in AI generated search results. This is a remarkable administrative breakthrough. The work is still being fed into the machine, but the machine must now admit whose work it is before presenting the result as a miraculous product of its own abundant forehead.
The change followed the CMA’s designation of Google with strategic market status in general search services. That designation does not mean the CMA found that Google acted anti competitively. It means the regulator now has a legal framework for requiring specific conduct, which is a polite institutional way of saying that the largest room in the building has acquired a fire exit.
Publishers will also be able to opt out of their content being used for fine tuning AI models. The printing press has welcomed this news, then asked whether its opt out form will arrive by email or be hidden inside a portal requiring three passwords, a memorable answer about a childhood pet and proof that it has not recently attempted to become a chatbot.
The CMA says the requirement is intended to secure fairer treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers. Google has nine months to implement all the changes, with important parts expected sooner. It must also submit compliance reports supported by data and metrics every six months during the first year.
So the modern information economy has reached an encouraging compromise. Publishers may now have a clearer route to say no, while the search giant has nine months to explain how it heard them. The printing press has seen this sort of arrangement before. It is called being given a visitor badge at the factory where your own contents are being processed.
The CMA will keep monitoring Google’s AI search changes and may take further action. The printing press has therefore filed a cautious statement under “content”, copied the filing cabinet and asked for a control over whether the filing cabinet may be used to train the cupboard. The cupboard has declined to comment because it is currently generating a summary of the room.
Source: GOV.UK.
