EU moves to force data sharing

The European Commission has told Google to open parts of its search data to rival search engines and AI search tools under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, reuters.com) In preliminary findings published on April 16, the Commission said Google should share ranking, query, click and view data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The proposal also covers who qualifies for access, how often Google must provide the data, and what anonymisation rules would apply. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The Commission said the eligible recipients could include AI chatbots with search functions, not just traditional search engines. Interested parties can submit comments through a public consultation that opened on April 17, and the Commission is due to issue a binding decision by July 27. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, reuters.com) Search data is the feedback loop that helps an engine learn which results users see, click and ignore. Brussels is trying to force Google to share some of that loop so smaller rivals can improve results without having to build Google’s scale first. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The legal hook is Article 6(11) of the Digital Markets Act, the European Union law for making digital markets “fairer and more contestable.” Alphabet was designated a gatekeeper for Google Search in September 2023, and gatekeepers have had to comply with the law since March 7, 2024. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, rpclegal.com) This step did not start this week. On January 27, 2026, the Commission opened formal specification proceedings to define how Google must meet its search-data-sharing duty, including the scope of the data and whether AI chatbot providers qualify. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) Google has pushed back on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act in earlier disputes. Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior competition executive, said last year that some Commission demands would “hurt European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality.” (searchenginejournal.com, blog.google) The search-data case lands alongside a wider fight over how Google presents its own services in Europe. In March 2025, the Commission issued preliminary findings that Google Search gave Alphabet’s shopping, hotel, transport and other vertical services more prominent treatment than rivals. (searchenginejournal.com, thecurrent.com) By late July, Brussels is expected to decide whether Google must hand rivals a slice of the data that helps power modern search. That decision would turn a broad DMA obligation into a specific rulebook for one of Google’s core businesses. (reuters.com, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu)