The European Commission adopted two binding decisions requiring Google to share anonymous Search data with rival search engines and open up parts of Android to competing AI assistants.
Search data metrics provide qualified providers, including AI chatbots with search functions, access to anonymous query, click, view, and results ranking data that they can use to build their own retrieval and ranking systems.
The Commission placed both decisions under the Digital Markets Act, six months after opening the procedures that produced them.
We submitted the search data proposal in April, when it was the first results for public consultation. The version adopted this month is the final one.
What Decision Requirement
Google is required to share anonymous data on ratings, queries, clicks, and views from both free and paid search results under fair and non-discriminatory conditions. This includes information such as search queries, metadata such as language and device type, URLs viewed, user interactions, and results status.
However, it does not include Google’s ranking algorithms. Certain sensitive data, such as account information, search histories, time stamps, and infrequent or long queries, are compressed to protect individuals.
The commission said Google’s approach to data sharing failed. The new decision defines what effective sharing entails, covering who is eligible and how much data is worth, with costs based on utility rather than open market rates.
AI chatbots that qualify as internet search engines under the DMA are eligible to use data to improve their systems, but not to train traditional AI models or replicate Google results. These requirements are binding under the DMA but do not include fines, unlike the separate DMA case related to discretion and ongoing antitrust cases in European courts.
Why Data Matters in AI Search
This decision extends beyond search engines into AI responses because it involves ranking. AI chatbots use the latest web data to ensure their answers are accurate, and the quality of that data depends on the search knowledge behind it. A 2025 commentator on AI Mode explained that Google supports its models with a system called FastSearch, which relies on search-level signals.
The decision does not give this to competitors. It does not require Google to share FastSearch or its search algorithms and technology. Instead, Google must share anonymous data on queries, clicks, views, and results metrics that eligible parties can use to improve their retrieval and ranking systems, which is essentially one of the authorized uses.
In February, we suggested that this EU process could have more important long-term implications for AI search than the US antitrust case because even if the power of Google search data competes with AI tools it affects the entire AI system of responses, citations, and referrals. The decision marks the point at which that issue begins to be addressed in practice. A chatbot with access to extensive anonymous Google Search interaction data starts on a different footing than one without such data.
Who Can Actually Use It
Which companies benefit first depends on who is already using the data effectively, not just on merit. All applicants must have at least 50,000 monthly EU users and pass a two-year operating history or, for new entrants, an investment test. Security checks and independent checks are required before Google shares any data.
Established search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo are likely to meet these restrictions quickly and comply with the new data rights. New entrants must develop the ability to use data before it can impact their supply.
In the short term, the impact on traffic will be limited by the base we have followed throughout the year. AI chatbots still account for a small portion of referrals. According to SE Ranking, all AI platforms combined represent about 0.24% of global internet traffic as of January. Better access to this data may influence which competing engines and chatbots can be developed, but it alone does not determine where searchers go.
Android AI Track
The second decision involves Android. Google should open a set of operating system features to target AI assistants so that a person can use a competitive assistant with voice, such as the command “Hey Google”, and let it do it within applications, such as booking a taxi or writing an answer.
Google should add most of these features in the next major release of Android, Android 18, and on August 1, 2027 at the latest. Concurrent voice activation, which lets more than one assistant respond to different wake words, has a later deadline of August 1, 2028. Google’s own Gemini assistant already has this level of access on Android, which is the asymmetry the decision is meant to close.
Google’s answer
Google disagrees with both of these principles. Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, wrote that they “risk undermining important privacy and security” for millions of Europeans. He also pointed out that Google has repeatedly proposed solutions aimed at achieving the goals of the DMA. Regarding search data measures, his concern is about disclosing European search data to unknown companies without proper anonymity or users’ knowledge and consent.
The commission explains that anonymity is a multi-layered technical process combined with contractual safeguards, developed by internal and external privacy experts. This process allows Google to review the applicant’s cybersecurity or data protection process before sharing any data, and measures can be revised if an independent assessment reveals that the protections are inadequate.
Why This Matters
Once providers pass the access process, competing search engines and AI chatbots gain access to anonymous search data, similar to what Google has collected at scale. A wider range of providers using this data could enable more search engines and chatbots that cite sources and generate referral traffic, from the current dominance of a few platforms. However, this does not guarantee that result. It depends on who is qualified and researched, and how well the data works in actual product development.
Looking Forward
At first, searchers and publishers will not notice the changes. Google will spend the rest of 2026 developing the dataset and establishing goals, with its pricing proposal due in January 2027 at the latest. Each eligible provider will then access the data on their own schedule, after licensing it and agreeing on a price. Major changes for Android are due by August 1, 2027, and simultaneous voice use by August 1, 2028.
The commission plans to review the measures every two years and may reopen them if an independent review shows the anonymity is insufficient. Whether this will increase the number of search engines and chatbots fighting for visibility remains uncertain, and the result will only become clear when qualified providers start using the data.
