Google Extends Search Console AI Features Opt-Out Worldwide After UK CMA Mandate
TLDR
Google opened a Search Console opt-out from its AI features to sites worldwide on August 31, following a U.K. Competition and Markets Authority conduct requirement, with page-level grounding controls due by March 3, 2027.
What this Google Search launch means for your site
- Status
- Available
- Platform
- Google Search, Google Search Console
- Affects
- Search Console AI features opt-out control, Page-level grounding controls
- Who
- Publishers and site owners
- Effective
- August 31; page-level grounding controls due by March 3, 202
- Action needed
- Not specified in the source
Optimixed Overview
Optimixed's original report on this story.
Google's Search Console opt-out, which lets publishers exclude their content from Google's AI features, follows the first conduct requirement the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority imposed on Google over the summer. The ruling applied only in the U.K., but Google opened the control to sites worldwide on August 31, and page-level grounding controls are due by March 3, 2027, as Digiday reports.
How we got here: earlier Google Search coverage
- Nov 2Google Has No Announcement Yet on Adding AI Search Data to Search Console
Google says it has nothing to announce about adding more AI search data to Search Console ahead of a UK compliance date.
- Nov 1Google, Microsoft and OpenAI Plan to Honor a Shared robots.txt Line for Opting Out of AI Training
A shared robots.txt line could let sites opt out of AI training with several providers at once, but the companies involved are handling it differently.
- Oct 20Forbes joins Google's paid News AI pilot program to test AI features and gain performance data
Forbes joined Google's paid News AI pilot program to test new AI-powered features while gaining insights into how its content performs across Google's platforms.
- Jul 23Major Publishers Strongly Consider Blocking Google Search Entirely Amid Traffic Decline
Major publishers including USA Today, Politico, Reuters, and others are seriously considering blocking Google Search entirely as traffic from the search engine continues to decline.