Google to face strict UK restrictions over search dominance

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog has officially designated Google with “strategic market status" for its online search, deploying new powers to tackle the dominance of big tech and paving the way for necessary interventions.

It was a significant move by the Competition and Markets Authority’s to force the Alphabet-owned company to change the way it operates in Britain in the search market.

The CMA’s Executive Director for Digital Markets Will Hayter said in a statement, “We have found that Google maintains a strategic position in the search advertising sector with more than 90% of searches in the UK taking place on its platform.”

The CMA, which has previously imposed fines for defiance and has direct enforcement, said in June that its actions would be “targeted and proportionate” and would catalyze creativity in the British sector and broader economy.

No doubt this move marks a pivotal moment in global big tech regulation.

Nonetheless the proposed steps from the CMA in June offer consumers access to alternative search engines and encourage equitable ranking.