Google faces EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews

The Independent Publishers Alliance (IPA) has lodged a significant antitrust complaint with the European Commission, accusing Google of anticompetitive practices concerning its AI Overviews feature in Google Search. This development, as reported by Reuters, marks a new escalation in the ongoing tensions between content creators and the tech giant.

At the heart of the complaint is the allegation that Google is “misusing web content for Google’s AI Overviews,” leading to severe repercussions for publishers, particularly news outlets. The IPA contends that this practice has resulted in “significant harm to publishers, including news publishers in the form of traffic, readership and revenue loss.”

A key point of contention highlighted in the complaint is the alleged lack of choice afforded to publishers. The IPA argues that content creators are effectively forced to allow their material to be used in AI summaries, facing the grim alternative of being entirely excluded from Google search results if they attempt to opt out.

Google’s AI Overviews, which integrate AI-generated summaries at the top of search results, have been progressively rolled out over the past year. While initially marred by some “spectacularly off-base” answers, the feature has nonetheless seen continued expansion. This expansion has reportedly contributed to “major traffic declines for news publishers,” intensifying concerns within the publishing industry.

Responding to the allegations, Google conveyed to Reuters that “new AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered.” The company further asserted that claims regarding web traffic are frequently based on incomplete data, and that fluctuations in traffic can be attributed to “a variety of reasons.”

As the European Commission reviews this antitrust complaint, the outcome could set a significant precedent for how AI-driven search features interact with original content and impact the digital publishing ecosystem. The case underscores the critical balance between technological innovation and fair competition in the online sphere.