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8h ago

Publishers File Antitrust Complaints Over Google’s AI Overviews in EU and UK

Brussels and London regulators are reviewing antitrust filings that accuse AI-generated search summaries of draining publisher traffic through unconsented use of content, with potential interim measures under review.

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the crowd during Google's annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California on May 20, 2025. (Photo by Camille Cohen / AFP)
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Overview

  • Independent Publishers Alliance and Movement For An Open Web have filed complaints with the European Commission and UK Competition and Markets Authority alleging Google’s AI Overviews misuse news and web content without permission.
  • The filings contend that publishers cannot exclude their material from AI-generated summaries without disappearing from standard search results, effectively forcing content use without consent.
  • Traffic-monitoring data from Similarweb show that since the May 2024 rollout of AI Overviews, news searches with no click-throughs climbed from 56 percent to 69 percent and organic visits slid from over 2.3 billion to under 1.7 billion by May 2025.
  • Both the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority have confirmed receipt of the filings and may impose interim safeguards or open full investigations to protect publishers.
  • The legal actions follow Chegg’s February 2025 antitrust lawsuit and reflect a broader industry effort to secure opt-out rights and fair compensation for AI use of publisher content.