The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed legally binding conduct requirements on Google on June 17, 2026. The regulator ordered Google to use objective and non-discriminatory criteria for all search rankings. This mandate explicitly covers the company’s AI Overviews service. Google has six months to comply with these transparency rules.
The intervention aims to prevent Google from giving preferential treatment to its own services. The CMA also gave Google three months to allow UK users to share search data with authorized third parties. This move aligns UK user rights with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.
This marks the second CMA action against Google in June 2026. The move signals increased scrutiny over Google’s market dominance and AI integration. A Google spokesperson stated the company’s systems are fair and it will work constructively with the regulator.