Google faces EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews from publishers

A group of independent publishers has lodged an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Google’s AI Overviews are harming their businesses by using publisher content without adequate permission or compensation.

According to a document reviewed by Reuters, the complaint filed on June 30 claims that Google is misusing its dominance in online search by placing AI-generated summaries above traditional web links. These AI Overviews are currently live in over 100 countries and were updated in May to begin showing advertisements.

The complaint was filed by the Independent Publishers Alliance, along with Foxglove Legal (a UK-based non-profit advocating fairness in tech), and the Movement for an Open Web. The group has also requested interim measures to pause the feature, citing “irreparable harm” to publishers, particularly smaller and independent news platforms.

“Google’s core search engine service is misusing web content for Google’s AI Overviews, which have caused significant harm to publishers… in the form of traffic, readership, and revenue loss,” the document states.

Publishers argue that AI Overviews display content compiled from publisher material without offering users a reason to click through to the original sources. They add that there’s no option to opt out of having their material used for training Google’s AI models or for AI summaries, unless they also opt out of Google Search entirely—a move most publishers cannot afford.

A spokesperson for Google told Reuters that the company continues to send billions of clicks to websites every day.

“New AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered.”

Google also responded to claims about declining traffic, stating that fluctuations often result from various factors like seasonal trends, user behavior, and algorithmic updates not necessarily from the addition of AI Overviews.

However, Foxglove’s co-executive director Rosa Curling pushed back on that logic.

“Independent news faces an existential threat: Google’s AI Overviews,” she told Reuters.
“We’re urging the European Commission, and other regulators globally, to step in and allow independent journalism to opt out.”

The same coalition has also submitted a similar complaint to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA has confirmed receipt of the document but has not commented publicly.

The challenge mirrors a recent lawsuit filed in the U.S., where an edtech company alleged that Google’s AI tools are reducing demand for original content, impacting publishers’ visitor numbers and subscription revenue.

As of now, the European Commission has not issued an official statement in response to the complaint.