UK press can opt out of AI overviews, stay in search results
Last July, publishers filed competition complaints about Google’s AI Overview in the UK and Europe. The overview directly substitutes for the publishers’ own sites with a worse version. And you can’t opt out of the AI Overview without blocking Google Search. Until now! The UK Competition and...
Last July, publishers filed competition complaints about Google’s AI Overview in the UK and Europe. The overview directly substitutes for the publishers’ own sites with a worse version. And you can’t opt out of the AI Overview without blocking Google Search. Until now! The UK Competition and Markets Authority designated Google with “strategic market status” in search in October. That means the CMA can put conditions on Google “for the purposes of ensuring fair dealing, open choices or trust and transparency.” [CMA, PDF] Publishers can have their sites excluded from AI overviews without being cut out of search results. Google also has to let publishers opt out of their stuff being used to fine-tune AI models. [CMA] Google now has to be transparent about its search results. The results algorithm has always been a trade secret — but now Google search has to have “objective and non-discriminatory criteria.” The AI overview as well. [CMA] Google has complied, because they like selling ads in the UK. They’ve already set up a page for publishers to opt out of the AI functions as they need to. [Google] Publishers are a bit optimistic, but they’d like it to be more fine grained. They don’t like that it’s an opt-out, instead of an opt-in. And they think the CMA shouldn’t be giving Google months to do this. [Press Gazette, archive] Google’s opt-out page is not just UK, it’s global. Because playing nice heads off other countries regulating Google more harshly — even this tiny, inadequate bit. Video — PodcastSource: Pivot to AI — Published — Category: Business