Is Google Dominating the Search Landscape a Little Too Much?

Well, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) certainly seems to think so. It emerged last week that the organisation is investigating Google for the impact its services have on the people and businesses of the UK. In other words, the CMA wants to establish whether Google’s monopoly of the online search and search ad markets is justified.

“Google’s innovative services have generated significant benefits in the UK,” reads the official statement on the gov.uk site. “Its search services are a gateway through which millions of people and businesses access and navigate the internet. 

“In the UK, Google accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries, and more than 200,000 UK advertisers use Google’s search advertising. Search is vital for economic growth. It facilitates businesses connecting with each other, with investors, and with their customers. And it generates a wealth of data that can be used to develop new AI products and services to foster innovation.”

Market domination has its downsides

But there are concerns. Despite the obvious benefits of Google’s services, there are benefits to competition too. With Google’s massive market share, it’s hard (if not impossible) for rival search engines to compete. Even the mighty Microsoft has been unable to take the fight to Google, its search engine Bing struggling to hold on to its existing user base (let alone attract new users). If one of the world’s best-known and richest tech companies can’t compete, what hope does anyone else have?

“Effective competition ensures people benefit from greater choice, new and innovative services, and have control over their data,” the announcement reads. “Search services are also important as a route to access the news. Effective competition could help ensure that people can access a wide range of content and that publishers are treated fairly for the use of their content.”

The press release goes on to state that a more competitive market could also bring the annual cost of search advertising down, to the tune of ‘almost £500 per household’. 

The scope of the investigation

So, we’ve established why Google is being investigated by the CMA – but what is the investigation going to cover?

• First up, barriers to entry. Is Google purposely making it harder for other search engines to gain a foothold?
• Second, is Google using its power within the search sector to ‘self-preference’ its services, effectively giving its own offering preferential treatment over competitors’ search engines and ad platforms?
• Finally, is Google exploiting us, the users? Are they collecting data without our consent, and are they using the data they collect in an irresponsible way?

Elaborating on the announcement, CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said: “Millions of people and businesses across the UK rely on Google’s search and advertising services – with 90% of searches happening on their platform and more than 200,000 UK businesses advertising there. 

“That’s why it’s so important to ensure these services are delivering good outcomes for people and businesses and that there is a level playing field, especially as AI has the potential to transform search services.

“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal – for example in how their data is collected and stored. And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed.”

What will the outcome be?

At the moment that’s anyone’s guess, but we should have the CMA’s conclusion by the end of October. 

Whatever they decide, they have the power to impose certain restrictions on Google and dictate how they gather data, how this data is used and whether or not they’re required to share the information with rival businesses. 

Google is under fire not just from the CMA, but also from the US Department of Justice. In August last year, District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the company was not only ‘a monopolist’, but that it had ‘acted as one to maintain its monopoly’. 

The ruling was clear: not only did Google have a monopoly on the search sector, it had acted illegally in order to maintain it. We don’t yet know what actions the US Department of Justice is going to take in order to address the situation, but we do know that it’s not going to ignore it any longer.

So, will Google remain the market leader?

For the time being, almost certainly. But no matter how dominant a company is, a monopoly like the one Google currently has can never last forever. 

How many of you say you’re going to ‘Google’ something rather than ‘search’ for it? Plenty. How many of you also reach for the ‘Hoover’ when it’s time to clean the house as opposed to merely the ‘vacuum’? Probably quite a few.

But is your vacuum cleaner made by Hoover? Probably not. The point is, although we’ve got used to Google being the default search engine of choice, it’s unlikely (or impossible, even) that this will remain the case forever. 

Google’s time in the spotlight is far from over – but its title as the undisputed king of search is at risk more now than ever.