The British Competition Authority Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation against Google to examine the company's market dominance in the areas of search services and search advertising. This is the first investigation of its kind under the new digital competition regime, which came into effect just two weeks ago.

The CMA stated that the investigation aims to analyze the impact of Google's market power on consumers, advertisers, news publishers, and competing search engines. The goal is to ensure that both users and businesses can benefit from innovation and competition.

Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, emphasized: "Our job is to ensure that people have a real choice and access to innovative search services, and that companies can operate on a fair playing field.

The new rules allow the CMA to designate companies with so-called strategic market status in digital activities and issue behavioral guidelines. If Google is classified as strategically influential, the authority could order measures such as the disclosure of user data to competitors or more control for publishers over their data, particularly in connection with Google's AI services.

Google stated in a blog post that it would work cooperatively with the CMA and demonstrate how its services support consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. According to Google, the company generated economic activities worth £118 billion ($144 billion) in the UK in 2023.

The CMA will decide by October 13 whether regulatory measures are necessary. It plans to gather evidence from Google and feedback from advertisers, news publishers, and user groups.

The investigation increases the pressure on Google, which was already targeted by the CMA last year for potential competition distortions in the ad-tech sector. At that time, the CMA accused Google of hindering competition by favoring its own services.