Key Takeaways
- Google’s search and advertising businesses are the subject of a new investigation from United Kingdom regulators.
- The regulators will probe whether Google’s dominant position in those markets help or hurt consumers.
- The UK adopted new, stricter antitrust rules at the start of 2025, joining the U.S. and Europe in challenging the biggest tech companies.
Regulators in the United Kingdom have opened an investigation into the market position of the search and advertising services of Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, the first under new antitrust rules that went into effect with the start of the new year.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that it will investigate whether Google has “strategic market status” in the search and search advertising industries. If Google is found to have SMS in the sectors, the designation would allow regulators to “impose conduct requirements or propose pro-competition interventions” that could improve the market for consumers and businesses.
Google accounts for at least 90% of searches in the U.K., according to the CMA, and…
