EU Publishers Lodge Antitrust Grievance Against Google Over Exclusive AI Summaries
In a significant move, the Independent Publishers Alliance (IPA) has lodged an antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Google, alleging the tech giant's misuse of AI-generated summaries, known as AI Overviews, is causing substantial losses for digital news outlets.
The complaint, filed under Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, argues that Google's AI Overviews in search results are reducing user clicks to original news sites, leading to declines in traffic, readership, and revenue for publishers.
Dan Atkins, the author of the article, reports that studies and publisher reports show declines in click-through rates (CTR) ranging from 10 to 25 percent or more, even when publishers maintain high search rankings. This is due to AI Overviews providing immediate answers, which reduces the need for users to visit source sites.
The wider use of AI Overviews is also a concern, with Google's AI Overviews increasingly triggered by a broadening range of keywords, including news-related queries. For example, about 12.5% of current specific news searches generate AI Overviews, with even higher rates for past news topics or generic news.
Regulators are investigating violations under the EU Digital Markets Act aimed at ensuring fair competition and consumer choice. In Europe, six human and digital rights groups, alongside the IPA, have filed antitrust complaints asserting that Google misuses its dominant online search position to appropriate web content unfairly for its AI features, harming publishers.
The publishers claim that this constitutes a foreclosure of competition and a distortion of end-user choices. They fear that Google unfairly leverages its search monopoly to prioritize its AI products over third-party content, potentially leading to the hollowing out of newsrooms and a decrease in investment in original reporting.
Google maintains that AI Overviews enhance user experience by surfacing information more efficiently and driving deeper engagement with linked content. However, publishers have no practical mechanism to prevent their articles from feeding Google's large language models or being repackaged in AI Overviews.
If interim measures are granted, Google might be compelled to offer publishers a meaningful opt-out mechanism, setting a precedent for how AI features integrate with search. The case represents a test of regulators' ability to balance innovation in AI with fair competition and the sustainability of the digital news ecosystem.
The publishers assert that Google's actions could erode public trust in journalism and put news outlets in difficult positions regarding corrections or disavowals of AI-generated content. The complaint alleges abuse of dominance in the online search market by Google, and if successful, could reverberate far beyond Google and press publishers, potentially shaping the terms under which AI systems can draw upon and compensate web content.
The outcome of this antitrust action could have far-reaching implications for the digital news industry, potentially leading to a more equitable distribution of revenue and a more sustainable business model for independent news outlets.
The Independent Publishers Alliance (IPA) argues that Google's use of AI-generated summaries, referred to as AI Overviews, negatively affects digital news outlets by reducing user clicks, traffic, readership, and revenue. This is due to AI Overviews providing immediate answers, which reduces the need for users to visit source sites.
Regulators are investigating Google's potential violation of the EU Digital Markets Act for misusing its dominant online search position to appropriate web content unfairly for AI features, claiming this constitutes a foreclosure of competition and a distortion of end-user choices.
