A gaggle of unbiased publishers has filed an antitrust criticism in opposition to Google with the European Fee, alleging that the corporate’s AI-generated search summaries, generally known as AI Overviews, are harming their site visitors, readership, and income.
The criticism, submitted by the Unbiased Publishers Alliance and seen by Reuters, additionally requires interim measures to stop what it describes as “irreparable hurt” to publishers.
The Alliance is backed by digital promoting teams and nonprofit organizations just like the Motion for an Open Internet and Foxglove Authorized CIC.
AI Overviews are summaries routinely generated by Google’s massive language fashions and displayed on the prime of search ends in over 100 international locations.
Google started monetizing these summaries with adverts in Could 2025, as a part of its broader push to combine synthetic intelligence into its core search engine.
AI is inflicting hurt to publishers
The publishers stated the AI overview has turn out to be dangerous to their enterprise because it sidelines them, they usually proceed to lose income because of an absence of clicks on their content material.
“Google’s core search engine service is misusing net content material for its AI Overviews, which have brought about, and proceed to trigger, important hurt to publishers, together with information publishers. This consists of lack of site visitors, readership, and income,” the criticism said.
- In response to the submitting, publishers don’t have any approach to stop their content material from getting used to coach Google’s AI fashions or to look in AI Overviews until in addition they decide out of Google Search totally, which might severely impression visibility.
- The criticism argues that this places authentic content material at an obstacle, as AI Overviews show data generated from writer materials whereas pushing precise writer hyperlinks decrease in search outcomes.
- The European Fee declined to touch upon the matter, whereas the UK’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it had obtained the criticism.
Google’s response
Google, in response, stated it drives billions of clicks to web sites every day and argued that AI in Search expands discovery.
“New AI experiences in Search allow individuals to ask much more questions, which creates new alternatives for content material and companies to be found,” a Google spokesperson stated.
The tech large additionally dismissed allegations of site visitors loss, stating that such claims are sometimes based mostly on “extremely incomplete and skewed information,” and emphasised that fluctuations in web site site visitors may result from a number of elements, together with seasonality and adjustments in person curiosity or algorithm updates.
Extra insights
As AI turns into extra built-in into on a regular basis search, tensions between tech platforms and content material suppliers are anticipated to accentuate, significantly over problems with content material utilization, visibility, and truthful compensation.
The Unbiased Publishers Alliance has referred to as for quick regulatory intervention to make sure competitors and shield public entry to various sources of data.
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