The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially published its final decision on Publisher Conduct Requirements (CR) for Google’s general search services.
This follows the CMA’s formal designation of Google with Strategic Market Status (SMS) in October 2025, and a consultation process launched in January 2026.
The rules are designed to address growing concerns that AI-powered search services could make use of publisher content while reducing traffic back to the websites that created it.
The CMA’s binding final decision directly addresses several of the core concerns raised by the APMA, introducing new protections for publishers whose content may be used within Google’s AI-powered search products.
You can read the APMA submission to the CMA here.
What does this mean in practice?
In short, the CMA has required Google to give publishers more control over how their content is used by AI systems, provide clearer attribution to sources and improve transparency around AI-powered search.
One of the most important outcomes for publishers is that they must be able to exercise those controls without being penalised in Google’s traditional search results.
Publisher Choice Without Search Penalties
One of the APMA’s major concerns throughout the consultation was whether publishers would be able to control how their content is used by AI systems without suffering a loss of visibility in Google’s traditional search results.
The CMA has now made clear that publishers must be able to withhold their content from certain AI uses without facing ranking penalties in Google’s organic search results.
Without it, publishers could have faced an impossible choice between allowing their content to be used by AI systems or risking a loss of traffic from Google Search.
The CMA’s compliance framework requires Google to show how it will ensure publishers are not disadvantaged if they choose to restrict access to AI search functions. The regulator will monitor implementation through ongoing reporting and compliance assessments.
Greater Publisher Control
Google is now legally required to provide publishers with effective controls over how their content is used by AI systems.
The rules have been expanded to ensure that:
- Controls explicitly cover both AI model training and the use of publisher content to generate answers for users in real time.
- The opt-outs apply across Google’s AI ecosystem, including AI-generated search features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, as well as standalone products such as Gemini.
In practice, this means publishers will have greater flexibility to decide how, where and when their content can be used within Google’s AI products.
Increased Visibility and Attribution
To help protect referral traffic and publisher business models, Google must now take reasonable steps to ensure content used within its generative AI features is attributed clearly and accurately.
Consumers must be given clear and frictionless access to the original source website directly from AI-generated responses, helping to preserve traffic to independent publishers.
This is particularly important for publishers whose business models depend on website visits, advertising revenue or affiliate commissions.
Enhanced Transparency and Data
Google will no longer be allowed to operate search as a data black box.
The CMA has instructed Google to provide publishers with “clear and detailed metrics on user engagement”, specifically tracking how their content performs inside generative AI features.
Affiliate and partner marketers will have access to clear data that’s needed to see exactly how much traffic is interacting with their properties via AI summaries versus traditional links.
Fair Ranking
A key APMA concern throughout the consultation process was ensuring platform neutrality and fair ranking. Fair ranking refers to concerns that search providers could favour their own services or AI-generated experiences over independent publishers within search results.
While the CMA acknowledged concerns regarding traffic loss and platform self-preferencing, it has chosen to separate these issues from the Publisher Conduct Requirements to allow publisher protections to progress more quickly.
The CMA will publish its separate Fair Ranking Conduct Requirements decision in due course.
Implementation
The CMA has given Google up to nine months to fully build out and release its publisher consumer engagement analytics and transparency metrics dashboards.
However, the regulator expects the core opt-out controls and attribution links to go live for UK publishers well ahead of that final deadline.
While some elements of the new regime will take time to build and deploy, the CMA has made clear that it expects Google to make progress throughout the implementation period rather than waiting until the final deadline.
The CMA has also established a formal compliance framework requiring Google to provide implementation plans, regular compliance reporting and evidence of how publisher controls, attribution mechanisms and transparency metrics are operating in practice.
This means publishers should expect a phased rollout of the new protections, accompanied by ongoing regulatory oversight.
APMA Response
Kevin Edwards, Founder and Director of the APMA, commented:
“The APMA welcomes the CMA’s decision and the practical protections it introduces for publishers.
One of our key concerns throughout this process was ensuring that publishers are not forced to choose between allowing their content to be used by AI systems or risking a loss of visibility in Google’s search results. The CMA has made it clear that publishers must be able to exercise meaningful control over the use of their content without being disadvantaged should they choose to do so.
The affiliate channel is a vital incubator of businesses that put consumers at the heart of their offerings. We know that shoppers rely on affiliate content to save money and make more informed purchasing decisions. So as search evolves, publishers need confidence that they can continue to invest knowing their content will receive appropriate attribution and reward. It cannot be understated how important the affiliate ecosystem is to the UK’s tech scene, employing thousands of people and helping consumers to save billions.
These measures will not solve every challenge facing publishers in an AI-first world, but they represent an important step towards preserving a diverse, sustainable and competitive ecosystem.”
