Following its ruling on Publisher Conduct Requirements (CR) for Google’s search services giving publishers greater control over their traffic, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has introduced two new legally binding conduct requirements for Google’s search services under the UK’s digital markets competition regime.
The new requirements, covering Fair Ranking and Data Portability, are designed to ensure that Google’s own products and services cannot unfairly disadvantage independent digital businesses.
For affiliate and partner marketing businesses, the decision represents another important intervention from the CMA and provides further reassurance that regulators are actively monitoring how Google’s search ecosystem evolves.
What does this mean in practice?
The CMA’s latest decision addresses three areas of particular importance to affiliate marketing.
Tackling Self-Preferencing
In its consultation response, the APMA raised concerns regarding the threat of self-preferencing in areas such as travel and shopping services. Given the affiliate channel’s dependence on search visibility, the APMA warned that favouring Google’s own services over independent rivals could undermine competition, reduce consumer choice and disadvantage businesses operating in the wider digital ecosystem.
The CMA’s new Fair Ranking requirement directly addresses these concerns.
Under the new framework:
Anti Self-Preferencing Safeguards: Google is now legally required to rank organic search results using objective and non-discriminatory criteria, whilst ensuring sponsored results remain clearly distinguished. Importantly, these rules extend to integrated Google modules and comparison services, preventing them from receiving an unfair advantage over independent comparison, cashback, reward and review businesses.
Algorithmic Transparency: Google must provide publishers and digital businesses with clearer information about how search rankings operate and give advance notice of significant changes that may materially affect traffic and visibility.
Effective Recourse: For the first time, Google will be required to establish formal mechanisms allowing businesses to raise concerns about manual actions, ranking changes and other decisions that may have a material adverse impact.
Google has previously argued that regulatory interventions similar to those introduced under the EU’s Digital Markets Act risk slowing innovation and delaying the rollout of new products and features. However, the CMA’s objective is to ensure that UK businesses can continue investing in organic visibility with greater confidence, knowing that search markets are being actively monitored.
The AI Future
The APMA also argued that if emerging AI experiences foreclosed referral traffic without clear attribution, the underlying business models of independent publishers could be significantly harmed.
The CMA has confirmed that Fair Ranking principles will extend beyond traditional search results to include AI-generated experiences such as AI Overviews.
This builds upon the CMA’s earlier Publisher Conduct Requirements, which introduced a zero-penalty opt-out from AI model training and established requirements around attribution and referral links back to original publisher sources.
We asked APMA member Ciaron Dunne, Co-Founder at Genie Ventures, who has also been lobbying for fairer practices, for his views:
“The value of the CMA’s decision is not a restoration of organic search, but – we hope – a few safeguards for the future. It provides brands and affiliate publishers with a degree of confidence to invest in AI feature visibility and comparison websites, knowing the UK regulator is actively watching.”
He added:
“In reality this intervention arrives 15 years too late to protect traditional organic search, which has already been systematically eroded as Google has perfected its ability to identify and monetise commercial intent. Most brands and publishers operate with the realistic understanding that significant free traffic from standard organic results is never coming back.”
Unlocking Consumer Innovation Through Data Portability
The CMA has also placed Google’s UK Data Portability API on a statutory legal footing.
This provides greater certainty for innovative start-ups, particularly within cashback, loyalty and rewards, by allowing consumers to securely authorise the transfer of their search data to third-party applications.
For consumers, this could ultimately unlock more personalised shopping experiences, tailored travel recommendations and highly relevant offers and promotions.
Implementation
Google has been given six months to implement the new requirements.
The APMA will continue to monitor implementation closely and scrutinise Google’s mandatory transparency reporting to ensure the spirit, as well as the letter, of the requirements is delivered.
APMA Response
Kevin Edwards, Founder and Director of the APMA, commented:
“The affiliate channel is an important incubator of businesses that put consumers at the heart of their offerings. Shoppers rely on it to make informed decisions. By taking this line on fair ranking across all formats – including AI Overviews – the CMA has validated our push to maintain fair access to search products for independent publishers”.
