The UK’s competition regulator is proposing to loosen Google’s control of its search engine and hand more power back to publishers, in the first application of Britain’s tough new digital market rules. 

The Competition and Markets Authority said on Tuesday that Google could be required to implement new “fair ranking” measures in its search results and give publishers more control over how it uses their content, including in output generated by artificial intelligence. 

The CMA said it was minded to hand Google “strategic market status” — a label introduced under new digital market laws this year — in light of its dominant position in search and search advertising, which would require the tech giant to abide by a number of such conduct rules. A final decision will be made by October following a public consultation.