Google may have to change the way its search engine works in the UK, including potentially offering users the option to choose rival search services, as part of new regulation from the UK’s competition authority.

In a decision handed down on Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has designated Google Search with Strategic Market Status (SMS)—a qualifier given to companies that are considered to have “substantial and entrenched market power”—which would allow the regulator to wield more power over it.

This decision follows a 10-month investigation into Google, and it is the first time that these powers, which come under the UK’s new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act , have been used to target a major tech company. Google’s SMS will last up to five years un

See Full Page