Complaint Alleges Abuse of Market Dominance
On June 30, the Independent Publishers Alliance submitted a formal antitrust complaint accusing Google of abusing its dominant position in online search. The group says Google is unfairly prioritizing its own AI-generated “Overviews” at the top of search results, reducing visibility and traffic for original publishers.
“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 alleges.
The group is asking the European Commission to impose interim measures to prevent what it calls “irreparable harm” while a full investigation proceeds.
AI Overviews Feature Under Fire
Google’s AI Overviews are summaries automatically generated using large language models and displayed prominently at the top of search results pages. The feature, launched in over 100 countries, is designed to give users quick answers without needing to click through to external sites. In May 2025, Google began incorporating advertising into these Overviews.
Publishers and industry critics argue that this approach effectively sidelines original reporting, diverting traffic that would otherwise support newsrooms and other content creators. According to SimilarWeb data cited in the complaint, 37 of the top 50 US news domains saw year-over-year traffic declines after AI Overviews launched in May 2024.
SimilarWeb also found a marked rise in “zero-click” search results, where users get answers directly on Google’s page without visiting a publisher's site. The percentage of news-related searches ending without a click rose from 56% in May 2024 to 69% in May 2025.
Calls for Fairer Terms and Opt-Out Options
Critics say that Google’s market power effectively forces publishers to accept the use of their content for AI summaries without fair compensation or meaningful control.
“Publishers using Google Search do not have the option to opt out from their material being ingested for Google’s AI large language model training and/or from being crawled for summaries, without losing their ability to appear in Google’s general search results page,” the complaint states.
Tim Cowen, co-founder of the Movement for an Open Web (one of the signatories to the complaint), went further in condemning the practice:
“In short, AI Overviews are theft from the publishing industry,” Cowen said. “They steal publishers’ content and then use that to steal their traffic before it reaches their site. That’s unfair and a clear breach of copyright principles.”
He called for publishers to have the ability to opt out of having their material used in AI Overviews without being penalized in general search rankings.
Foxglove Legal, another organization backing the complaint, emphasized the existential threat to independent journalism.
“Independent news faces an existential threat: Google’s AI Overviews,” said Foxglove co-executive director Rosa Curling. “That’s why with this complaint, Foxglove and our partners are urging the European Commission, along with other regulators around the world, to take a stand and allow independent journalism to opt out.”
Google Defends AI Summaries
Google, for its part, has defended the AI Overviews feature and disputed claims that it harms publishers. A company spokesperson argued that the feature enhances the user experience and can even help content creators reach wider audiences.
“New AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered,” the spokesperson told Reuters. Google also pointed out that it sends billions of clicks to websites each day and noted that traffic can fluctuate for many reasons, including changing user interests and regular updates to its search algorithms.
Broader Context of Regulatory Scrutiny
The European Commission’s competition arm confirmed it had received the complaint. The filing comes as European regulators consider broader measures to rein in the market power of large digital platforms.
“Last week, we proposed to designate Google with strategic market status in search and search advertising. If designated, this would allow us to introduce targeted measures to address specific aspects of how Google operates search services in the UK,” a spokesperson for the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority told The Post.
Google is already appealing a €4.3 billion ($4.7 billion) fine imposed by the European Commission over alleged abuses of its Android operating system. Last month, an adviser to the EU’s top court recommended upholding that fine. The company also faces ongoing investigations into its conduct in search and digital advertising markets, with the possibility of further regulatory action.
Parallel Legal Battles in the United States
The concerns raised in the EU complaint echo similar arguments in the United States. An education technology company has filed a lawsuit claiming Google’s AI Overviews damage demand for original content and harm the competitive ability of publishers.
Meanwhile, US courts have found Google in violation of antitrust law in separate cases. In August 2024, a federal judge ruled that Google maintained monopolies in general search and search advertising through exclusive deals, such as those with Apple. Another ruling in April 2025 found that Google had illegally monopolized online advertising by controlling both sides of the ad exchange market.
A trial to determine remedies in the US search monopoly case is expected to conclude soon, with potential outcomes that could include breaking up parts of Google’s business.
Outlook for Regulation and Publishing
As AI-powered features reshape how people access news and information, regulators face the challenge of balancing innovation with the need to preserve fair competition and support the sustainability of independent journalism. The European Commission is now under pressure to act on the publishers’ complaint, which could have far-reaching consequences for Google’s business model—and for the future of news on the internet.