Under the UK’s digital markets competition regime, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said Google will be required to improve transparency and fairness in how search results are ranked.
It said that businesses have noted that current ranking practices are neither fair nor transparent. The CMA said businesses also found that changes made by Google were being rolled out without sufficient notice. When such changes have a business impact, the businesses that raised concerns with the CMA said they did not have effective ways to raise concerns.
Last June, under the Digital Markets Competition Regime, the CMA began a consultation on whether to designate Google with strategic market status (SMS). The result of its investigation is that Google is now designated with SMS.
A few weeks ago, the CMA imposed a new conduct requirement on Google, enabling publishers to opt-out of having their continent appear in Google AI Overviews. It has now introduced the Fair Ranking conduct requirement to address concerns raised by businesses over Google search results.
As a result of the Fair Ranking requirement, Google will be required to rank organic search results and provide AI Overviews using objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Google will also need to provide greater transparency to businesses about how rankings work, give advance notice of significant changes and put in place clear processes for businesses to raise concerns about how its ranks results and have them addressed effectively.
The CMA has also aligned with the EU’s Digital Markets Act covering Google’s data sharing process. The voluntary process already in place through Google’s UK Data Portability application programming interface (API) will now have a legal footing.
According to the CMA, this gives third-party firms the confidence to offer people new products and services based on their Google search data. For instance, the legal requirement for Google to share data would enable third parties to offer people more personalised features such as tailored travel suggestions, more relevant shopping deals and rewards, including cashback and discounts.
To port their data, a user needs to sign up to a third-party service, such as a rewards platform or personalised recommendation service. In the third-party service, the user is prompted to connect their Google account and explicitly authorise the transfer of their search data. The third party uses Google’s Data Portability API to request the relevant data. Google processes the request and transfers the data securely to the third party. The data is then used to deliver a service, such as personalised recommendations or tailored offers or discounts.
Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the CMA, said: “Search is a vital gateway for businesses in the UK to reach customers, and clearer, predictable and more transparent ranking systems could give them greater scope to expand and invest.
“These new measures will ensure search results are ranked fairly and objectively, with clearer information about changes and effective routes to raise concerns. At the same time, innovative businesses will have the confidence that they can access search data in practice, unlocking investment and innovation in new products and services for users.”
