UK regulator designates Google as key market player
By Alimat Aliyeva
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially designated Google with Strategic Market Status (SMS) in both general search and search advertising services. This follows a months-long investigation launched in January under the UK’s new digital markets regime, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, Azernews reports, citing foreign media.
The CMA confirmed that Google holds "substantial and entrenched market power," with over 90% of all online searches in the UK conducted on its platform. While Google’s Gemini AI assistant was excluded from the SMS designation, other AI-driven features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode were included.
It’s important to note that the SMS designation is not an accusation of wrongdoing, but rather a regulatory tool that empowers the CMA to explore potential interventions aimed at promoting fairer competition in the digital market later this year.
The UK’s new digital markets regime is one of the world’s most ambitious attempts to regulate the tech giants. By targeting firms with SMS, the CMA aims to ensure that dominant platforms like Google cannot unfairly stifle innovation or disadvantage smaller competitors in rapidly evolving fields such as AI-powered search.
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