EU antitrust regulators quiz publishers on Google's AI search opt-out

EU antitrust regulators are seeking feedback from publishers on Google's proposal to let them opt out of AI ‌search without affecting their rankings in search results, a questionnaire seen by Reuters showed. The publishers' feedback could determine the outcome of an ongoing EU investigation that could result in yet ‌another hefty fine for Google if the proposal fails to address competition concerns and ‌publishers' worries about unfair use of their content.

Google announced its AI opt-out for publishers in June, the same day the UK antitrust watchdog ordered it to allow publishers the option to stop their content ⁠being ​used to power its AI ⁠features. The U.S. tech giant, which completed the rollout of the opt-out globally on August 31, declined ⁠to comment and referred to its June 3 blog post on the topic.

Its AI Overviews, ​which are AI-generated summaries that appear above traditional hyperlinks, have triggered EU antitrust complaints ⁠by publishers concerned about falling traffic and declining revenue. The EU questionnaire, sent out in July with an ⁠August ​28 deadline for replies, asked if publishers would make use of the opt-out and the factors influencing their decision.

The document also asked publishers for their views ⁠on changes to Google's search box announced in May which included bringing AI Overviews and AI ⁠Mode into ⁠one AI Search. The world's most popular internet search engine has racked up more than €10 billion in EU antitrust fines for various violations ‌over nearly ‌two decades.