The UK’s competition watchdog has taken its first step towards designating Google as a company with strategic market status, using new legal powers that target entrenched dominance in digital markets. The Competition and Markets Authority announced on Monday that it believes Google’s core services in search, search advertising and display advertising meet the threshold for intervention under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. The act came into force in May 2024 and allows the CMA to impose legally binding obligations on firms with significant, entrenched market power and a position of strategic importance. A final decision is expected by October following an eight-week consultation. The proposed designation would require Google to follow a set of specific conduct requirements laid out by the CMA. These include limits on self-preferencing in search results, requirements for greater transparency in advertising practices and obligations to ensure that rivals can interoper...