According to a Reuters report, the Independent Publishers Alliance, formed by a group of independent publishers, has formally filed an antitrust complaint against Google with the European Commission, while also requesting interim measures to prevent its AI Overviews feature fromAI Overviews) caused irreparable damage to the news and publishing industry.
EU news publishers complain about Google’s AI Overviews feature
The so-called “AI Overviews” is an AI-generated summary feature that Google launched on its search pages in 2023. Using large language models (LLMs), it generates an overview of search results in real time and displays it at the very top of the search page, taking priority over traditional website link content. This feature is currently available in more than 100 countries worldwide. Starting in May 2024, Google also began incorporating ads into these AI summaries, further commercializing the feature.
Since the launch of the AI summary feature, it has frequently made a mockery of itself with inaccurate content, and it has also affected traffic to the vast majority of websites. Many reports indicate that AI summaries cause readers to never visit the source sites to view the original material, rendering SEO almost useless and raising serious concerns in the news and publishing industries. The complaint states that Google’s AI summaries, generated from publishers’ original content, not only lack proper authorization but also severely reduce the visibility and traffic of original news sites, resulting in losses in readership and advertising revenue. (Editor’s note: nearly all websites, including ours, have been affected.)
According to the official document submitted by the Independent Publishing Alliance on June 30, 2024, Google has abused its dominance in online search by using news publishers’ web content without consent and displaying AI summaries at the top of its search results pages, which has actually harmed the interests of content creators.
“Google’s core search engine service is abusing web content to feed its AI summaries, causing significant harm to publishers (especially news publishers), including traffic loss, reduced readership, and declining revenue,” the document states. In addition, the complaint highlights that Google has not offered publishers the option to choose whether their content can be used to train AI models or be used for summary generation. If publishers refuse to license their content, they will be excluded from Google’s general search results, which amounts to forcing them to accept unfair terms.
“Publishers have no mechanism to opt out of their content being extracted or used to train models, otherwise they are completely excluded from search results — this is clearly an exercise of unequal power.” The complaint strongly pointed out.
This action involves not only the Independent Publishers Alliance, but also the UK nonprofit legal group Foxglove Legal CIC and the Movement for an Open Web, whose members include a number of digital advertising firms and publishing companies. The three groups have filed formal complaints with both the EU and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and are demanding that interim measures be taken immediately to prevent publishers from continuing to suffer damage before a ruling is reached.
Rosa Curling, co-executive director of Foxglove, said in an interview with Reuters: “Google’s AI summaries pose an existential threat to independent news outlets. The news industry is facing unprecedented hardship.”
She added: “We call on the EU and other global regulators to act together to give news publishers the option to explicitly opt out of AI content use.”
Google Responds to Accusations of Biased Data, Emphasizes AI Enhances Discovery and Clicks
Facing fierce complaints and criticism, Google publicly responded by emphasizing that its AI search experience actually provides content creators and businesses with “more opportunities to be discovered.”
A Google spokesperson said: “We bring billions of clicks to websites every day. The AI search experience allows people to ask more diverse questions, and opens up new content discovery and business opportunities.”
Regarding the use of content, Google did not directly respond to whether it had obtained publishers’ consent or offered them a choice, but noted that “fluctuations in website traffic can be attributed to various factors, including not only search algorithm updates but also user interest and seasonal changes in demand.”
Meanwhile, Google also questioned the publishers’ traffic loss data as biased: “Many accusations regarding search traffic are often based on incomplete or even skewed data.”
It is worth noting that the antitrust complaints in Europe and the UK are not isolated cases. In the United States, edtech companies have also filed lawsuits against Google over its AI summaries, arguing that the feature reduces demand for original content, directly causing a decline in publishers’ visitor traffic and subscription numbers, and undermining the competitive environment.
These international lawsuits and complaints highlight the far-reaching impact of major tech platforms intervening in the content distribution ecosystem through AI features. Publishers generally worry that without timely boundaries and control mechanisms, the original news and content industries will suffer irreversible economic and social damage.
The European Commission has not yet made an official comment on this case, but the EU has over the past several years repeatedly launched investigations into Google’s abuse of its market dominant position and imposed hefty fines. This new type of complaint targeting AI search summaries will be a fresh challenge to the enforcement of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA). The UK’s CMA has confirmed receipt of the complaint and stated it will “carefully assess it in accordance with existing regulations.”
Source: KOCPC Chinese