Google AI Overviews sparks antitrust probe for using publisher content

Google is facing a European Union investigation into its use of publishers' online content for AI-generated search summaries like AI Overviews and AI Mode, with anticompetitive practices the primary suspicion.

Announced on Tuesday, the EU's main executive body, the European Commission, opened a formal antitrust probe into Google's practice of using online publishers' material for AI purposes — and that includes the company's use of content uploaded to YouTube.

According to the EU, the investigation will examine "whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, or by granting itself privileged access to such content, thereby placing developers of rival AI models at a disadvantage."

Specifically, the EU will dig into Google's AI-powered, generative search summary tools AI Overviews and AI Mode, and whether the company used web publisher content for these tools "without appropriate compensation to publishers and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content."

Since Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024, researchers have found websites including news and media outlets have seen a devastating impact on site traffic. In July 2025, Google also launched AI Mode, a more conversational AI-generated search results aggregator. A Pew Research Center study from July 2025 found users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, with users more likely to end their browsing session.

This impact on news sites has been colossal. As Cecily Mauran reports for Mashable, "Organic search traffic from major news sites including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post has declined according to SimilarWeb data. And smaller, independent sites say the rollout of AI Overviews has forced them to shut down their sites or entirely reinvent their distribution model as a result of declining traffic, according to a Bloomberg report. Other reports from SEO analysts found the presence of AI Overviews reduced clicks to sites, compared to traditional search results."

In the UK, MailOnline and Metro owner DMG Media told the Competition and Markets Authority (per the BBC), that AI Overviews had caused an 89 percent drop in click-through rates.

So, what's next? The EU has informed Google of the investigation and says there is "no legal deadline" for the end of the case, noting that the timeline may be impacted by "the complexity of the case, the extent to which the companies concerned cooperate with the Commission and the parties' exercise of the rights of defence."

It's just the latest Big Tech case brought forth by the EU, with Apple and Meta facing hundreds of millions in fines and a landmark €120 million fine slapped on Elon Musk's X, all for breaching its Digital Services Act (DSA). But it's also the latest case against a major tech company using material for AI training and aggregation purposes, with ChatGPT creator OpenAI facing multiple lawsuits for AI training and copyright infringement, including from publishers. Ziff Davis, Mashable's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.