Summary
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has proposed first-use and annual prompts letting Android and Chrome users choose a search service. Its updated plans could include AI assistants that meet technical and security criteria.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has updated proposals that would require Google to offer Android and Chrome users a choice of search service when they first use an Android phone or open Chrome, followed by a prompt each year to select their preferred default. The proposals could include AI assistants, provided they meet relevant technical and security criteria.
The regulator is consulting on the plans, which also include a requirement for search providers featured on choice screens to attribute publishers’ content fairly. The CMA is inviting feedback until 9 October 2026 and expects to make a final decision on the conduct requirement by the end of the year.
What the proposed choice screens would do
Under the proposal, people would be prompted to select a search provider at two points: when they first use an Android phone or open Chrome, and then once a year. A default search service is the one used automatically unless a person chooses another option; the proposed prompts are intended to make that choice available within those Google products.
The CMA says the updated approach reflects changes in how people search online, including growing use of services such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. AI assistants would not be included automatically: they would need to meet the relevant criteria, including technical and security requirements.
The proposal also links search choice with the way publishers’ work is presented. Providers appearing on the screens would have to attribute publisher content fairly when it is used, so people can readily reach the original material and identify where search results came from.
A proposal still under consultation
The CMA’s announcement is a strengthened proposal, not a final requirement already in force. The consultation gives search providers, publishers, consumer groups and others an opportunity to respond before the authority decides whether to impose the conduct requirement.
The CMA designated Google with strategic market status in general search and search advertising services in October 2025. It says its wider package of measures has also included publisher controls, fair-ranking requirements and data portability. The updated user-choice proposal addresses how people select a search service as AI assistants become part of the search landscape.