UK watchdog to launch probe into Google's 'enormous power'
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The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into the dominance of Google when it comes to online searches. The Competition and Markets Authority will probe how the US tech giant’s enormous power impacts consumers and businesses including on advertising, news publishers, and rival search engines. In the UK, Google accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries, and more than 200,000 UK advertisers use the firm’s search advertising. The announcement of the CMA investigations comes less than fortnight after it gained new powers.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “Millions of people and businesses across the UK rely on Google’s search and advertising services. That’s why it’s so important to ensure these services are delivering good outcomes for people and businesses and that there is a level playing field, especially as AI has the potential to transform search services.”.
She added: “It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal - for example in how their data is collected and stored. And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed.”.
