Google has taken the European Commission to court over an order requiring it to share selected Google Search data with rival search providers and AI chatbots that offer search. The dispute puts a familiar competition remedy in an awkward position: data that could help rivals improve their services may also reveal patterns in what people look for online.
What the EU wants shared
The Commission adopted the requirements on July 16 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It argues that Google’s unusually large pool of search data gives the company an advantage competitors cannot reproduce on their own.
The information covered includes statistics on search queries, result rankings, link clicks and views. Access would extend beyond traditional search engines to AI chatbots with search functions.
The intended scope is limited. The order does not require Google to hand over all the information it holds. The data must first go through several layers of anonymisation, with account details, search histories, precise timestamps and exact location information removed. Rare and unusually long queries would be suppressed.
Recipients would also have to submit their data-protection systems to independent audits.
Privacy is the point of disagreement
Google says those safeguards are not enough and that sharing search data could put the privacy of millions of European users at risk. The Commission says its requirements include necessary protections, and it can revise them if later evidence shows the anonymisation system is not reliable enough.
That leaves the central question less tidy than a standard argument over market access. The Commission wants rivals to benefit from information it sees as essential to competition. Google argues that even a carefully processed data set could carry privacy risks. The order’s protections are meant to address that tension, not make it disappear by declaration.
Android rules are also being challenged
The search-data dispute is not the only EU requirement Google is contesting. The Commission has also ordered the company to give rival AI services broader access to Android features.
That access would let third-party assistants carry out actions in apps in response to voice commands, such as ordering a taxi or interacting with other applications. Google is also challenging those requirements in court.
What happens next
If the search-data order remains in force, Google must prepare an anonymised data set during 2026 and begin providing it to eligible competitors under the specified process. The first major implementation steps are scheduled for January 2027.
For now, the legal challenge leaves the practical rules in dispute. The Commission says it can adjust the safeguards if evidence warrants it. Google says the current version still goes too far on privacy. Competition policy would prefer a cleaner answer, but search data does not appear to have received the memo.