New U.K. rules for how Google AI treats publishers hailed as model for Canada
Tomas Kauer 
Competition authorities in the United Kingdom are imposing new conduct requirements on Alphabet Inc. ’s Google that will allow publishers to keep their content from being used to power the tech giant’s artificial intelligence features.
In what the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority called a world first, publishers will be able to prevent their content from being used in Google’s AI features in search, such as AI Overviews, which quickly compiles information from various sources to boil down a complex topic into a couple of paragraphs.
In addition, Google will be required to ensure that any content used in AI‑generated search results is properly attributed to the publisher using clear links, something the competition authority said will also boost consumer trust.
Moreover, under the new conduct requirements, publishers will be able to opt out of allowing their content to be used for the “fine-tuning” of Google’s AI models.
“This provides publishers with confidence that they will have control over the full range of AI use-cases of their content,” the CMA said, adding that the new conduct requirements will put publishers in a stronger position to negotiate content deals directly with Google.
A Canadian media association hailed the new measures as a blueprint for other jurisdictions including Canada.
“This is a globally significant announcement,” said Paul Deegan, chief executive of News Media Canada, which represents hundreds of print and digital titles across the country including those owned by Financial Post parent company Postmedia Network Canada Corp.
“The U.K. has shown the world the way. Without a realistic opt out, publishers in Canada and around the world have been held for ransom by Google,” Deegan said.
A Google spokesperson responded to a request for comment about the U.K. competition authority’s new conduct requirements by sending a blog post published by the search giant on Wednesday.
In it, the company said it is actively listening to feedback from publishers and engaging with regulators such as the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority.
“Today, we’re beginning to test a new control that lets website owners manage how their links and content appear in generative AI Search features,” the post said, noting that the company plans to roll out new control features globally after testing them with a subset of website owners in the U.K.
“Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features,” the tech giant said, adding that this control will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features.
Deegan said the pledge to eventually offer opt-out controls to publishers around the world isn’t enough.
“We want the (Canadian) Competition Bureau to align with the CMA’s position to ensure Canadian publishers can effectively opt out from Google AI Overviews as well,” he said.
“Since Google launched AI Overviews in Canada in 2024, publishers have been harmed, and we need an immediate remedy. This should not take months to roll out, and there is no reason why this cannot be done in Canada concurrent (with) the U.K.”
Deegan said that rather than being forced to opt out, publishers should be given the option to opt in to AI training and other AI uses, putting control over content in the hands of publishers that own the copyright-protected content rather than Google, whose machines merely scrape and summarize it.
Anna Maiorino, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau, said the Canadian agency is aware of the U.K.’s new conduct requirements for Google and follows the work of international counterparts closely, even though they operate under different legal regimes.
“I would emphasize that the Bureau does not develop laws or regulations on any market, sector or industry,” she said.
News Media Canada has been pressing the federal government to direct the Competition Bureau to conduct a market study into one of Google’s primary search tools, Googlebot, which Deegan contends makes it difficult for publishers to opt out of the AI components of Google’s platform.
“(It’s) a co-mingled bot for both traditional search and AI,” he said. “Essentially, if you block their AI crawler, you become undiscoverable on the web … essentially throwing yourself off the internet.”
A Google spokesperson said publishers are able to use a separate control called Google-Extended to opt out of having their content used for AI training.
“Google-Extended does not impact a site’s inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search,” the spokesperson said.
Through federal government efforts, Canadian publishers have managed to get some compensation from Google as they struggle to reach audiences and generate revenue alongside global tech firms dominant in online search and advertising.
Under the federal Online News Act, passed in 2023, $100 million now flows to Canadian news businesses annually from Google, which Deegan said is working well. However, he noted that these funds aren’t coming in the form of content licensing agreements, which would see the tech firms pay directly for use of copyrighted material.
Obtaining compensation of any kind has been much more difficult when it comes to social media powerhouse Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook). In 2023, rather than comply with the incoming online news legislation, Meta withdrew the ability to share news in Canada on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
In addition to government efforts, the Competition Bureau has been taking steps to deal with the online dominance of major international tech firms.
In November 2024, the Bureau took legal action against Google for alleged anti-competitive conduct in online web advertising in Canada, accusing the company of abusing its dominant position in advertising technology and the ad auction process by, among other things, taking negative margins in certain circumstances to disadvantage rivals and dictating the terms on which publishers could transact with rival ad tech tools.
In setting out its case, the Competition Bureau said it is seeking remedies including forcing Google to pay a penalty and sell two of its ad tech tools. The competition authority also wants to see the company prohibited from continuing to engage in anti-competitive practices. However, it will be up to the Competition Tribunal to determine whether there is merit to the case and whether any remedies are needed.
Similar cases are playing out in other jurisdictions, including in the United States, where Google lost a couple of key anti-trust cases involving online search and advertising.
• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com
