The UK has reached a major turning point in its relationship with Big Tech, committing to a new strategy of actively rebalancing power away from dominant platforms and towards consumers, publishers, and smaller competitors. The landmark designation of Google with “strategic market status” is the first concrete action in this new, more interventionist era.
For years, the prevailing approach in the UK, as in many countries, was largely one of light-touch regulation, based on the belief that market forces would ultimately foster innovation and choice. The decision to enact the Digital Markets Act and immediately use it against Google signals a formal rejection of that philosophy.
The new consensus, embodied by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), is that digital markets have unique characteristics—like network effects and the power of data—that lead to natural monopolies. Without proactive intervention from a regulator, these markets will not self-correct, and power will continue to concentrate in the hands of a few gatekeeper firms.
The specific remedies being considered all point to this goal of rebalancing. “Choice screens” rebalance power towards consumers. “Publisher controls” rebalance power towards content creators. “Fair ranking” rules rebalance power towards competing services. Each intervention is designed to chip away at the structural advantages that have allowed Google to accumulate so much influence.
This is a fundamental and long-term policy shift. The action against Google is not an isolated event but the opening move in a sustained campaign to reshape the UK’s digital economy into one that is seen as fairer, more competitive, and less dependent on the whims of a few global tech giants.
