On June 3, 2026, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority imposed the first “conduct requirement” on Google’s search services under the country’s digital markets competition regime: publishers will be able to opt out of their content being used to power Google’s AI search features. CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell called it a “world-first” requirement, aimed at fair treatment, greater transparency, and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers as AI reshapes search. The same day, Google announced new Search Console controls, starting with a test among a subset of UK website owners.
The order did not come out of nowhere. The CMA designated Google with “strategic market status” (SMS) in general search in October 2025, proposed remedies in late January 2026, and watched Google push a major AI-driven search redesign in May. As generative search started answering questions directly and absorbing the clicks, the core imbalance — publishers supply the content, Google keeps the traffic — finally got a mandatory valve.
What the CMA Actually Requires
Four things. First, publishers can opt out of their content being used to power AI features such as AI Overviews, which the CMA describes as a world first. Second, Google must ensure publisher content is properly attributed with clear links inside AI-generated search results. Third, added after consultation feedback, publishers can also opt out of their content being used to fine-tune AI models. Fourth, Google must submit and publish compliance reports with supporting data, every six months for the first year.
The CMA allowed nine months for full implementation but expects the key controls to arrive sooner. It also flagged that “further action in relation to Google’s search business” is coming within weeks. Since the regime took effect, the CMA has opened four SMS investigations spanning Google, Apple, and Microsoft — conduct requirements are becoming a routine supervisory tool, not a one-off statement.
Google’s Response: Opting Out Won’t Touch Rankings
Google made the product land the same day. A new Search Console control lets site owners remove themselves from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover. Google stated the control “will not be used as a ranking signal” for results outside those generative features. The trade-off is spelled out just as plainly: opted-out sites receive no traffic or impressions from the generative AI features.
Alongside the toggle comes a new reporting surface: impression counts, which pages show up in AI responses, and in which countries. TechCrunch’s read is blunt — the metrics double as a deterrent, since publishers who see the sheer scale of AI feature impressions will think twice before flipping the switch. The scale is real: Google itself says AI Overviews has over 2.5 billion monthly active users and AI Mode has passed one billion. On attribution, Google points to recently added inline links and site previews inside AI answers.
Why the UK Got There First
The EU’s AI Act regulates AI as a product; the UK’s digital markets regime regulates it as a competition problem — designate strategic market status first, attach conduct requirements second, iterate fast. The CMA took care to note that SMS designation does not imply Google behaved anti-competitively; it simply lets the regulator impose proportionate, evidence-based rules. For publishers, the real leverage is negotiation, not litigation: the CMA’s release says outright that the requirement gives news organizations “appropriate bargaining power” in content-licensing deals with Google. It fits the year’s pattern of tightening terms and tightening oversight — the same direction our opening-of-2026 outlook flagged.
One more wrinkle: the order governs the UK market, but this kind of control is hard to build for one country only. Google started testing with UK sites and the rollout has since gone global.
What It Means for Builders and Content Teams
Three practical effects. First, the opt-out moves from convention to law: what used to be a robots.txt and Google-Extended gentlemen’s agreement is now a regulator-backed switch, explicitly barred from doubling as a punitive ranking signal. Second, attribution and AI-exposure metrics are now auditable obligations — content teams evaluating the AI search hit to their traffic get an official data source instead of third-party estimates. Third, precedent: if the UK model works, expect other regulators to copy the opt-out and attribution requirements quickly. SEO tooling and content strategy services should add “AI feature impressions” to their data models now.
Sources
- CMA secures fairer deal for publishers and improves Google search services in UK — CMA
- Publishers will be able to opt out of AI Search, thanks to new regulation — TechCrunch
- New opportunities, control and insights for website owners — Google
AI-assisted summary compiled from the sources above, reviewed by a human before publishing.