EU tells Google to share search data

The European Union has told Google to open parts of its search data to rival search engines and some artificial intelligence chatbots under draft Digital Markets Act measures. (ec.europa.eu) The European Commission said on April 16 that Google should share ranking, query, click and view data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. It also opened a public consultation on Friday, April 17, on how those rules should work. (ec.europa.eu) The draft also covers who can get the data, how often Google must provide it, what anonymisation is required, how prices are set, and how access requests are handled. The Commission said eligible recipients could include AI chatbots with search functions, not just traditional search engines. (ec.europa.eu) This is part of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, the law for policing “gatekeepers,” or the biggest digital platforms that control core services like search and app stores. The Commission is the sole enforcer of that law. (ec.europa.eu) Google’s search-data duty is not new. The Commission opened formal specification proceedings on January 27, 2026, under Article 6(11) of the Digital Markets Act to define how Google must give third-party search providers access to anonymised search data. (ec.europa.eu) Those January proceedings also asked whether AI chatbot providers should qualify for access, putting search-style chatbots inside a rule that was originally written for online search engines. The Commission said it would finish those proceedings within six months of opening them. (ec.europa.eu) Bloomberg reported the Commission sent the preliminary findings ahead of a final decision expected in late July. That gives Google a short window to respond while rivals, publishers and other third parties comment on the draft. (bloomberg.com, ec.europa.eu) Reuters reported Google plans to fight the proposal, arguing that broader data access could create privacy and security risks. The Commission’s draft says any shared search data must be anonymised before rivals receive it. (reuters.com, ec.europa.eu) The case goes to the center of Google’s search business: the feedback loops created by billions of searches, clicks and rankings. Brussels is now trying to decide how much of that advantage must be shared, and with whom, before it turns the draft into a binding order. (bloomberg.com, ec.europa.eu)