Google is once again on the radar of EU regulators. This time it’s about the AI Overviews feature – artificial intelligence-generated summaries that rank highest in search results. According to a group of independent publishers, this tool – while innovative – is directly hitting their business, reducing site traffic and affecting revenue. As a result, an official antitrust complaint has been lodged with the European Commission.
Publishers accuse Google of using their content without consent to create their own summaries, which eliminate the need to click on the source link. Moreover, they claim, they cannot opt out of participating in this mechanism without giving up search engine visibility altogether, which virtually means digital disappearance. Such an arrangement is coercive and, the claimants argue, undermines the principles of fair competition.
The operation of AI Overviews now covers more than 100 markets, and since May Google has also been testing the addition of ads to them. This is a clear indication that the company is looking at integrating AI into search as a strategic direction. However, what looks like an evolution of search from a technology perspective could mean a reduction in ad revenue and paid subscriptions from the publishers’ point of view.
The complaint has not only gone to Brussels, but also to the UK Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by Foxglove Legal and the Open Web Movement, among others. They are demanding not only intervention, but also an interim measure – the suspension of the AI function in search results before the damage becomes irreversible.
Google, in line with its line of defence, argues that AI Overviews increase content discovery and generate billions of clicks for publishers. It also argues that traffic drops could be due to a number of factors, such as algorithmic changes or seasonality.
The discussion touches on a broader issue: how to reconcile the development of AI tools with the funding model for independent media. For Google, it is a question of innovation. For publishers, a fight for survival.
