Google is facing a new antitrust complaint in the European Union , this time over AI Overviews – the artificial intelligence-generated content summaries that appear above traditional search results. The Alliance of Independent Publishers filed the complaint , asking for interim measures to prevent what they say is “irreparable harm” to the industry.
Google's AI Overviews are available to users in over 100 countries. Since May 2025, the company has also begun testing ads within these overviews.
According to the text of the complaint, revealed by Reuters, Google is accused of abusing its dominant position in online searchby downgrading the original content of publishers, which it uses to train its large language models.
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“Google’s core search engine service misuses web content for AI Overviews in Google Search, which has caused and continues to cause significant harm to publishers, including news publishers, in the form of lost traffic, readership, and revenue,” the document states.
According to the complaint, Google places AI Overviews at the top of the general results page to display its own summaries, which are created using publisher material. As a result, Google’s placement puts publishers’ original content at a disadvantage.
At the same time, publishers do not have the ability to opt out of having their data collected without being excluded from the main Search results.
The European Commission declined to comment, while the UK Competition Authority confirmed it has received the complaint.
The Independent Publishers Alliance describes itself as a non-profit community. The complaint is also supported by Foxglove Legal (a non-profit legal initiative for tech justice) and The Movement for an Open Web, which includes publishers and advertisers.
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The organizations are calling for temporary measures from the EUto protect competition, access to news and the viability of independent publishers in an ecosystem that is rapidly changing under the pressure of artificial intelligence.
Google: "Criticisms of AI Overviews are based on incomplete data"
Google has responded to growing criticism surrounding AI Overviews, arguing that claims of a drop in traffic to publishers are untrue.
A spokesperson said the company sends billions of clicks to websites every day and that AI- enriched search experiences encourage people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and business discovery .
“Many of the traffic categories are based on grossly incomplete or distorted data,” a company spokesperson said, noting that website performance is affected by a variety of factors, including seasonality, changing user preferences, and frequent updates to the Search algorithm.
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The backlash in Europe is reminiscent of a recent lawsuit in the United States, where a US edtech company accused Google AI Overviews of eroding demand for original content. The lawsuit says this has led to a significant drop in traffic and subscriptions, undermining the financial viability of digital publishers.
As developments escalate, the conflict surrounding artificial intelligence in search appears to be turning into one of the most important technological and legal controversies of our time.
On the one hand, Google is innovating by offering AI-powered summaries that make search more “intelligent,” more immediate, and more user-friendly. It’s a natural progression in an era where users demand answers, not just links. This approach is technologically impressive.
On the other hand, publishers – especially small and independent ones – see their efforts being repurposed by Google’s AI, with no direct benefit, no opt-out, and often no recognition. They lose valuable traffic, which translates into less revenue and less influence. When original content is replaced by concise AI-answers, the user’s need to click is reduced — and that hurts engagement, especially in an already fragile digital environment.
Source: Reuters
