European Publishers File Antitrust Complaint Against Google Over AI Overviews
Independent publishers filed an antitrust complaint against Google with the European Commission, alleging the company abuses its search dominance through AI Overviews, which display AI-generated summaries above traditional links without publisher consent. Publishers report lost traffic and revenue, while Google argues such losses result from multiple factors and that the feature creates discovery opportunities.
What happened
A coalition of independent publishers, supported by Foxglove and the Open Web Movement, filed an antitrust complaint to the European Commission on 30 June 2025 alleging that Google abuses its dominance in online search by using AI Overviews.
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries displayed above traditional hyperlinks in Google Search results, available in over 100 countries. The feature was launched with advertisement integration as of May 2025.
The complaint alleges that publishers cannot opt out of having their content used to train Google's large language model or to generate summaries without losing visibility in Google's search results pages.
Reported impact
Publishers, including news publishers, reportedly experienced declining website traffic, readership, and lost revenue as a result of AI Overviews placement at the top of search results.
The complainants describe the situation as an existential threat to independent media, and requested interim measures to prevent what they characterize as irreparable competitive harm.
Index analysis
Google argued that many claims about traffic losses are based on incomplete and heavily distorted data, and that websites can gain or lose traffic for various reasons including seasonal demand, user interests, and regular search algorithm updates.
Google stated it sends billions of clicks to websites daily and that new AI search experiences enable users to ask more questions, creating new opportunities for content discovery and businesses.
Governance controls
The UK Competition and Markets Authority confirmed receipt of the complaint. The European Commission did not provide comment on the filing.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.