Google faces EU antitrust complaint from publishers over AI Overviews

Alphabet’s Google has come under fresh scrutiny after a group of independent publishers filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, alleging that the company’s AI Overviews feature is harming competition and publishers’ revenues.

Google’s AI Overviews — which generate AI-written summaries and appear prominently above traditional hyperlinks in search results — have been rolled out in over 100 countries. Since May, Google has also started placing ads within these AI-generated summaries, raising further concerns among publishers.

According to Reuters, the Independent Publishers Alliance (IPA) submitted a formal complaint to the EU on June 30, claiming that Google is abusing its dominance in search by prioritizing its own AI-generated content above publishers’ websites. The IPA also requested an interim measure to prevent what it described as “irreparable harm” to competition and access to news.

“Google’s core search engine service is misusing web content for Google’s AI Overviews in Google Search, which have caused, and continue to cause, significant harm to publishers, including news publishers in the form of traffic, readership and revenue loss,” the complaint said, as cited by Reuters.

The publishers argued that Google’s AI Overviews derive summaries from their content without offering an opt-out mechanism that doesn’t also exclude them from the regular search index. This, they claim, leaves them disadvantaged while Google benefits from their material to train its AI and display its own answers.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has also confirmed it received a similar complaint and request for interim measures from the group.

In response, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that the company’s search continues to direct users to websites and delivers “billions of clicks” to publishers daily. They added that AI in search encourages users to ask more questions, creating new discovery opportunities for publishers and businesses.

Google also dismissed the traffic concerns as exaggerated, saying website traffic fluctuates for many reasons, including seasonal trends, user interests, and routine algorithm updates.

The Independent Publishers Alliance, a nonprofit advocating for independent publishers, did not disclose the names of its members but maintains it speaks on behalf of smaller publishers adversely affected by Google’s practices.

This complaint adds to the growing list of antitrust and regulatory challenges Google faces in Europe and elsewhere as authorities scrutinize how its AI products impact competition and the broader digital economy.