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Britain's competition authority said on Tuesday it was opening a formal antitrust investigation into Google's search and search advertising services.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it wants to assess whether Google has “strategic market status” (SMS) under the UK's new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCC).
DMCC is a law that aims to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets. Designating a company as having an “SMS” would give the regulator the power to impose changes to prevent anti-competitive behavior.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said the regulator was examining Google's dominance in the search market to ensure a “level playing field”, especially as artificial intelligence changes the way people search for information online.
“Our job is to ensure people fully benefit from choice and innovation in search services, and fair terms, for example on how their data is collected and stored,” Cardell said.
“And for companies, whether they are a competing search engine, an advertiser or a news organization, we want to ensure that all companies, large and small, have an equal opportunity to succeed,” she added.
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