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The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is regulating Google’s dominant position in general search and search advertising under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Google received “strategic market status” (SMS) designation on 10 October 2025, but the case is not a criminal prosecution and the designation itself is not a finding that Google has infringed competition law. The case remains open while conduct requirements and consultations continue.
What the CMA is investigating
The investigation covers Google’s general search services and search advertising. The CMA is assessing whether Google has substantial and entrenched market power and strategic significance in the UK, the legal tests for SMS under Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
The CMA’s market context explains why the service is under scrutiny: it said Google handles more than 90% of UK general-search queries. It also said more than 200,000 UK firms collectively spent over £10 billion on Google search advertising in the preceding year. Those figures describe market scale; they do not, by themselves, prove unlawful conduct or quantify consumer harm.
In June 2025, CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said search and search advertising are critical to UK consumers and businesses and that effective competition should deliver good outcomes. The authority has raised concerns about Google’s scale and data advantages, the way ranking and advertising changes are made, publisher bargaining power, default-search agreements, and the ability of rivals to attract users.
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Has the CMA found that Google is a monopoly?
No. SMS designation is a regulatory status, not a criminal charge and not an automatic finding of an infringement under competition law. It gives the CMA a framework to impose and enforce conduct requirements for designated digital activities. Any specific requirement must follow the relevant statutory process, including consultation where required.
The designation also does not establish a quantified reduction in prices, publisher traffic, innovation, or consumer welfare. The official case materials do not provide a final causal estimate for those outcomes.
What “strategic market status” means for Google Search
SMS is intended for firms whose position is powerful and important enough that ordinary competition rules may not address recurring problems quickly or effectively. Once an activity is designated, the CMA can set tailored rules governing how the firm operates that activity and can monitor compliance.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallFor Google Search, the process is moving from designation into conduct regulation. The CMA published a proposed SMS decision and roadmap on 24 June 2025, issued its final designation on 10 October 2025, and opened a conduct-requirements consultation on 28 January 2026.
What the CMA is concerned about
- Ranking and presentation: Google can change ranking and result presentation rapidly, with limited transparency about when or why changes occur. The CMA is considering whether fairer processes and explanations are needed.
- Search-advertising competition: Google’s scale and control over search advertising may affect competition and transparency for advertisers and agencies.
- Default-search agreements: Agreements with device makers such as Apple and Samsung can make it harder for rival search services to reach users.
- Publisher bargaining power: Publishers may have limited ability to control how their content is used in Google’s search and AI features or to understand the resulting attribution and visibility.
- Data advantages and portability: Search data can improve services and make switching harder. The CMA has said innovative rivals struggle when users cannot easily share relevant search data.
Timeline of the UK Google Search case
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 14 January 2025 | The CMA launches its first SMS designation investigation under the UK digital-markets regime. |
| 24 June 2025 | The CMA publishes a proposed SMS decision and roadmap, provisionally finding the legal tests met and outlining possible choice, ranking, publisher-control and data-portability measures. |
| 10 October 2025 | The CMA publishes its final SMS designation for Google’s general search services, comprising general search and search advertising. |
| 28 January 2026 | The CMA begins a consultation on conduct requirements. |
| 3 June 2026 | A publisher conduct requirement is imposed. |
| 17 June 2026 | Fair-ranking and data-portability conduct requirements are imposed. |
| 23 September 2026 | The CMA publishes a further consultation on a user-choice conduct requirement. |
What the new conduct requirements cover
Publisher controls for AI features
The publisher requirement addresses transparency, attribution and controls over the use of publisher content in AI services, including AI Overviews. It is aimed at giving publishers clearer choices about how their material is used and represented. The rule does not establish a guaranteed level of referral traffic or compensation.
Fair ranking
The fair-ranking requirement concerns how Google presents and orders results. Its purpose is to reduce the risk that changes are made in ways that unfairly disadvantage dependent businesses or rival services. It should not be read as a promise that every site will rank higher or that the CMA has prescribed a particular algorithm.
Data portability
The data-portability requirement is intended to make it easier for users or competing services to transfer relevant search data, reducing switching and entry barriers. The practical data fields, safeguards and user experience depend on the requirement’s implementation.
User choice and choice screens
The CMA’s September 2026 consultation concerns a further user-choice requirement. Possible measures include clearer opportunities to select a search service instead of relying on a preselected default. The consultation is not the same as a final rule, and the outcome and implementation timetable were not established in the cited materials.
What this could mean for different groups
Consumers
Users could receive clearer choices of search service, more understandable ranking practices, and greater control over search data and the use of publisher content in AI features. These are regulatory objectives; no quantified consumer saving has been attributed to the case.
Advertisers and agencies
Advertisers should watch CMA consultations and implementation details affecting search-advertising transparency, campaign measurement and access to data. The case does not announce a new advertising price, a required reduction in bids, or a guaranteed alternative buying channel.
Publishers
Publishers are the direct focus of the June 2026 requirement. They should examine the available controls, attribution information and compliance communications concerning use of their content in AI services, including AI Overviews.
Rival search and AI services
Choice measures and data portability are designed to lower barriers to entry and switching. They could help competing services reach users and improve products, but the CMA has not published a guaranteed market-share or innovation outcome.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is this the same as the CMA’s ad-tech case?
No. The two proceedings concern different markets, laws and stages.
| Issue | Google Search SMS case | Separate ad-tech case |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Strategic market status and conduct regulation under Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. | Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998. |
| Market layer | General search and search advertising. | Online display-advertising intermediation. |
| Procedural stage | Final SMS designation, with conduct requirements imposed and further consultations continuing. | The CMA opened the case in May 2022 and issued a statement of objections on 6 September 2024. |
| Potential focus | Choice screens, ranking fairness, publisher controls and data portability. | Competition-law concerns across parts of the display-advertising technology stack. |
| Legal outcome | Conduct rules can apply to the designated activity. | No infringement conclusion should be drawn from a statement of objections; the investigation follows a separate competition-law process. |
What happens next
The search case remains open. The CMA must continue implementing and supervising the requirements already imposed, while deciding the user-choice proposal after consultation. Google’s obligations, technical details and compliance timetable may therefore develop over time.
Readers should distinguish three things: Google’s market position, the CMA’s regulatory concerns, and a proven legal infringement. The first is the basis for SMS designation; the second explains the conduct rules; the third has not been established by the search designation. The separate ad-tech proceedings likewise have not produced a final infringement finding at the statement-of-objections stage.
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