The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into 's search services, marking the first major probe conducted under the country's newly implemented Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC).
Under the act, designed to curb anti-competitive behavior in digital markets, the CMA will assess whether Google holds “strategic market status” (SMS) under the DMCC. This designation will grant the regulator the authority to impose significant changes on Google's operations to prevent anti-competitive practices.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, emphasised the importance of ensuring a “level playing field” in the search market, particularly as artificial intelligence is revolutionising online search behaviour.
“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal — for example in how their data is collected and stored,” Cardell said.
“And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed,” she added.
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