One search engine switch to rule them all in Google's response to UK competition watchdog
The UK's competition watchdog has published responses to its consultation over Google's strategic market status (SMS) covering search and search advertising services - and the tech biz is offering some concessions.
Google says it will eventually allow sites to opt out of generative AI features in search, and make it easier for users to change the default search engine "without the annoying interruptions." Details and timelines, however, were conspicuously absent.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated Google with SMS status in 2025, giving it powers to impose competition requirements on the company.
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In January 2026, the CMA launched a consultation on proposed measures, including giving publishers more control over how their content feeds Google's AI overviews, introducing choice screens for switching search engines, and making ranking systems more transparent.
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The proposals drew widespread support, along with criticisms the CMA was not moving far or fast enough. The Publishers Association, for example, called [PDF] for a complete decoupling of Google's search crawlers from its AI crawlers, and pushed for a shorter implementation timeline.
As well it might, the Publishers Association noted a 19 percent decline in click-through rates to academic reference services, saying it was "likely to be as a result of Google’s conduct in its Search services and AI features."
The click-through problem was echoed in other responses. The News Media Association (whose membership includes publishers of UK national newspapers The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph) also noted [PDF] concerns around the processes, transparency, and timescale for ranking complaints, and asked the CMA to halve the proposed six-month implementation window to three months.
In its response published this week, Google addressed some of the concerns, stating, "We design our ranking systems to show the most relevant, highest-quality results for your query." Google claimed its own services and products were not given "special treatment," and added:
"Some third-party proposals (unsupported by evidence), could expose our systems, and thus our users, to manipulation and abuse. This would make it harder to fight spam, and ultimately slow down our ability to launch improvements for UK users."
With the proposed ability for sites to opt out of generative AI features in search, Google is extending an olive branch. The company must also address worries that opting out of AI overviews might impact a site's ranking in web search results.
Similarly, a "permanent, central switch" in a device's settings for default search engine selection goes some way to addressing concerns, but many responses are clear that a choice screen is required.
Google tried to justify the case for a central setting: "We know that people don't like being bombarded with frequent, interruptive pop-ups, and that the proposal that we show more choice screens every year, on top of when you set up a new device, would annoy users."
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The process has a while to run yet. ®