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Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is preparing to take a significant step to regulate Google more strictly, aiming to ensure fairer business rankings in search results and to offer consumers more choice through alternative services. This move would be the first use of the CMA’s expanded powers to oversee major tech companies like Google, reflecting growing global concern over their dominance.
The CMA announced its plans to designate Google, owned by Alphabet, with “strategic market status” (SMS). If confirmed in October, this status will give the regulator greater authority to intervene in Google’s search services. The goal is to encourage innovation and economic growth by making the market more competitive. This could mean forcing Google to be more transparent with publishers, simplifying access to rival search engines and AI assistants, and allowing competitors to more easily access data.
Britain’s competition regulator said it was proposing to designate Google with ‘strategic market status’ to give it greater control over how the US tech giant operates search services https://t.co/J3wUVWx6kw pic.twitter.com/9CS8eO0sJD— Reuters (@Reuters) June 24, 2025
Google responded cautiously, warning that what it described as “punitive regulation” might discourage it from launching new features and services in the UK. Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition, urged the CMA to adopt “proportionate, evidence-based regulation” to avoid hindering the UK’s growth prospects.
The CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, acknowledged Google’s huge role—handling over 90% of search queries in the UK, and its benefits to millions of users and hundreds of thousands of businesses reliant on its advertising platform. However, she emphasized the need to create a more competitive environment to spur innovation.
This regulatory approach from the UK contrasts with the European Union’s broader, more sweeping digital regulations. Britain aims to balance controlling tech giants’ dominance while supporting economic growth in the post-Brexit landscape.
As part of the new powers, the CMA has drafted a roadmap of potential changes Google could implement before a final ruling in October. The regulator also highlighted the rise of generative AI, which is reshaping the search market. Google has already integrated AI features such as AI Overviews into search and is developing its Gemini AI assistant.
The proposed designation covers AI-based search tools but excludes the Gemini assistant itself, which the CMA will continue to monitor. Beyond this, the regulator plans further investigations starting in 2026 into Google’s handling of rival specialized search firms and advertising transparency.
Additionally, the CMA’s probe into mobile operating systems is targeting Google and Apple, with the possibility of a similar designation focused on Google’s Android OS.
The CMA has the power to enforce compliance with fines and direct action, and Google is already under intense scrutiny from regulators in the US and EU for alleged monopolistic practices in search and advertising.
This move by the CMA marks a bold effort to rein in the power of one of the world’s largest tech companies while trying not to stifle innovation or growth in the UK market.
