Open Markets, the Center for Journalism & Liberty Urge UK to Consider Google Divestment in CMA Investigation
"Google's products are not naturally occurring market developments — they are strategically created and leveraged to reinforce its monopolistic position."
WASHINGTON - The Open Markets Institute and its Center for Journalism & Liberty at Open Markets have submitted a detailed letter to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to support its Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into Google’s general search services. The letter calls on the CMA to consider interventions that contain meaningful structural and behavioral remedies, including the divestment of Chrome and Android, to disrupt Google’s monopoly and prevent future anticompetitive behaviors.
The letter argues that Google's dominance in search and search advertising has created significant harms to competition, innovation, and access to information, as well as fundamentally undermined the media and publishing industry. Of particular concern is Google's integration of AI services like Gemini into search results, which we argue could further entrench Google's market power while degrading access to reliable information.
Key recommendations from the letter include:
Structural Separation: Consider the divestment of Chrome and Android from Google.
Ecosystem Perspective: Approach Google’s operations as an ecosystem rather than singular markets.
Scope of Investigation: Include Google’s AI interfaces in the scope of the investigation as Google’s general search services are a primary commercial gateway through which AI models are accessed; consider specialized search services (including eBay and Amazon) as dependent on general search.
Impact on Other Markets: Consider how Google’s general search services have distorted competition in other markets.
Complementary Behavioral Reforms: Support structural reforms by mandating an opt-in system for AI crawling of publisher content; prohibiting discrimination against publishers who refuse to adopt standards; ensuring fair compensation terms; and preventing Google from forcing publishers to accept its terms for products outside the search market.
“Our recommendations align with recent findings from both U.S. and EU regulators regarding Google's dominance in search and advertising technology, as well as its anticompetitive conduct related to integrating AI into search. As recent attempts by Google to circumvent behavioral remedies imposed by the French competition authority have shown, behavioral reforms on their own are not sufficient to prevent future anticompetitive behavior, and meaningful structural reforms must be considered.”
Based on these concerns, our letter aims to support the CMA in designating Google as holding Strategic Market Status and in fully considering the divestment of Chrome and Android, supported by behavioral remedies preventing the future anticompetitive behaviors, in the scope of its investigation.
Open Markets and the Center for Journalism & Liberty (CJL) at Open Markets have published extensively about the growing threat of market concentration in the AI sector, including two major reports “Stopping Big Tech From Becoming Big AI” (2024) and “AI in the Public Interest: Confronting the Monopoly Threat” (2023) as well as an Expert Brief on AI and Market Concentration. They have submitted observations to the UK Competition Authority (Competition Markets Authority) to voice concerns over AI partnerships, including Microsoft and OpenAI’s partnership. CJL has additionally submitted a detailed letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division in support of its proposed final judgement in the case that found Google held an illegal monopoly over search and text advertising.