Google faces UK clampdown as watchdog floats market power rules

Google is one step closer to strategic market status (SMS) designation in the UK following a proposal from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding search and advertising. An SMS designation would allow the CMA to introduce targeted measures to "address specific aspects of how Google operates search services in …

[Anonymous Coward]

I worked for a company that was on the CMA watchlist

We had to be prepared for a regulatory raid where we'd be interviewed and expected to help the regulator access our systems.

We had to be prepared for a midnight raid.

Fun times.

[elsergiovolador]

CMA: Lipstick on a pig

They talk about “Strategic Market Status” like it's bold reform - but it’s just regulatory theatre. No teeth, no urgency, no structural changes. Google’s dominance isn’t news. The CMA’s job now is to retroactively manage monopoly, not prevent it.

Because let’s be honest: the real failure happened years ago. Successive governments refused to foster home-grown alternatives, gutted public investment in tech, and let foreign platforms capture entire sectors. Now the CMA’s role is little more than putting lipstick on a pig - dressing up market failure as a managed inevitability.

If Google genuinely feared consequences, we’d see action - not another politely worded proposal with “review timelines” and “engagement opportunities.”

[Dinanziame]

Isn't that the same as EU's DMA?

As in, something the UK would have gotten for free without Brexit?

[abend0c4]

Re: Isn't that the same as EU's DMA?

Yes, but the UK gets the ability to roll over entirely independently when pressured by Trump.

[LybsterRoy]

I've read the article here and on the beeb and I'm obviously being even thicker than usual today.

The various browsers I use allow me to choose my default search engine. If I want to use something else I can go to the appropriate website. Whilst I agree that google is dominant (both search and on-line advertising) I'm unable to understand just what they are going to be asked to do.

[I ain't Spartacus]

LybsterRoy,

I've not read the detail here, so just going on educated guesswork. But I'd assume search choice screens will be for Android. Maybe ChromeOS as well? But that seems less likely. It's clear that Google invested in Android as a way to bolster their already existing search and advertising monopolies - had Microsoft ended up a big player in mobile, it's possible Bing would be a lot more successful - by pointing all searches on phones at Bing.

Seeing as Chrome is also a browser monopoly, they could also insist on a search engine choice screen in that too.