The Competition and Markets Authority is analysing responses to a proposed user choice rule for Google search, after a consultation that closed on 9 October 2026.
The consultation on the updated proposal opened on 23 September 2026 and closed at 5pm on 9 October.
The CMA has said the outcome will be published later, and responses from groups including DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Microsoft, Mozilla, OpenAI, Skyscanner, Trainline and Guardian News & Media Limited have been made public.
The rule would change how Google presents choices to consumers and how those choices influence decision making, which the CMA calls its “choice architecture”. The CMA commissioned qualitative research on choice screens showing the options people have for the services they use for search.
The rules rest on the CMA’s decision of 10 October 2025 that Google has strategic market status in general search and search advertising. The CMA found that Google has substantial and entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance.
Will Hayter, the CMA’s Executive Director for Digital Markets, said the regulator had found Google maintains “a strategic position”, with more than 90 per cent of UK searches taking place on its platform. The final decision gives the same figure for UK general search queries, measured across traditional search providers and search-grounded AI queries.
The CMA said designation is not a finding of wrongdoing and brings no immediate requirements. It lets the regulator consider proportionate, targeted interventions so that search is open to effective competition and that consumers and businesses relying on Google are treated fairly.
The designation covers Google’s general search and its search advertising, including Google Ads, Search Ads 360 and AdSense for Search when they serve advertising to users of general search, but not otherwise.
AI Overviews and AI Mode are in scope. The Gemini AI assistant is not, although the CMA said this will be kept under review given uncertainty over how the market is developing.
Google’s Top Stories results and the news tab are in scope. The separate Google News app and website are out. Syndication services are also out where a website uses them only to search its own content.
A conduct requirement is a tailored rule that makes a firm take a specific action or stop one. The CMA may impose one where that is proportionate to achieve outcomes for users in three areas: fair dealing, open choices, and trust and transparency.
The CMA consulted on a package of proposed requirements on 28 January 2026 and held online roundtables with affected businesses, trade associations and civil society bodies in February.
It imposed its publisher conduct requirement on 3 June 2026, and its fair ranking and data portability requirements on 17 June 2026.
Businesses and consumers are the groups the CMA says the requirements are meant to serve. Before confirming designation, the CMA gathered evidence and feedback from more than 80 stakeholders.
The user choice requirement remains at the proposal stage.