UK orders Google to explain search rankings

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority ordered Google on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, to make its search rankings more transparent and to give users a firmer right to share search data with third-party services.

The regulator issued two conduct requirements under the U.K. digital markets regime. The first targets fair ranking in Google Search, including organic results and AI Overviews. The second puts Google’s U.K. search data portability process on a legal footing.

Google must implement the ranking changes within six months. Google must implement the data portability requirement within three months.

The CMA said U.K. businesses complained that Google changes ranking practices without enough notice and gives them no clear route to challenge Search decisions. The new requirement tells Google to give businesses clearer information about ranking systems, explain changes that affect visibility, and create a process for raising concerns.

The CMA also told Google to rank organic search results through objective and nondiscriminatory criteria. The order excludes sponsored results, so paid search ads remain outside this conduct requirement.

AI Overviews sit inside the ranking rule. That matters for publishers, retailers, travel companies, comparison services, and other firms that rely on Google Search for traffic. If Google’s AI-generated answers reduce clicks or alter visibility, affected businesses will have a formal route to seek information and challenge treatment.

Google rejected the premise behind the complaints. The company said its ranking systems show relevant, high-quality results and said it would work with the CMA while protecting Search quality.

The data portability rule gives U.K. users rights that the CMA compared with EU rights under the Digital Markets Act. Users will be able to approve transfers of search data to other services. Google already runs a U.K. Data Portability API, but the CMA order turns that process from a company program into a regulatory obligation.

Third-party companies want that data because search history can support tailored travel suggestions, shopping tools, rewards, and other personal services. Compliance teams should treat the rule as a live data governance issue, not a product feature. Any recipient that uses search data will need clear consent flows, limits on use, security controls, and deletion rules.

The order follows the CMA’s earlier June action on publishers and AI Overviews. That move required Google to let publishers opt out of AI Overview use while keeping attribution and source links clear.

The CMA gained these powers after it gave Google Strategic Market Status in general search and search advertising in October 2025. The designation does not mean Google broke competition law. It gives the regulator authority to impose tailored conduct rules on a company with substantial market power.

Businesses that depend on Google Search should use the next six months to document traffic changes, ranking shocks, and complaint histories. Product and legal teams should map which Google surfaces affect them, including organic links, AI Overviews, and any Search feature that changes user routing.

Companies that plan to use ported search data should prepare consent language, data minimization rules, audit logs, and user controls before Google’s three-month deadline. The CMA’s order opens a channel for new services, but firms that mishandle search history will create privacy and consumer protection risk.

The CMA has more digital market work underway, including scrutiny of Microsoft’s business software ecosystem. Google now faces a summer of U.K. regulatory pressure over Search, AI-generated answers, and user data access.