Your Google Search is About to Get a Government-Mandated Makeover

The way you search for information online in the UK is on the verge of a government-mandated makeover, thanks to a landmark decision by the country’s competition regulator. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) has placed Google under a new, stricter set of rules by granting it “strategic market status,” a move that could fundamentally alter the familiar search page.
This action is the first of its kind under a new UK law designed to manage the power of dominant tech firms. The CMA took this step after finding that Google controls more than 90% of the UK search market, a position that it believes gives the company an unfair advantage and limits consumer choice.
What could this makeover look like? The CMA is considering forcing Google to display a “choice screen,” which would prompt you to pick your preferred search engine from a list that could include rivals like DuckDuckGo or new AI services like Perplexity. It also wants to ensure the search results you see are ranked fairly and not biased towards Google’s own products.
Google has suggested that this makeover might not be for the better. The company has warned that these changes could disrupt the user experience and slow down the introduction of innovative new features, like its AI Overviews, for UK users.
For now, nothing will change overnight. The CMA will first consult on these proposals later this year. But the process has begun, and the simple act of “Googling” something in the UK may soon be a very different experience.