On 16 July 2026, the European Commission adopted two sets of binding measures for Google under the Digital Markets Act. The decision concerns two areas that are becoming increasingly important to the digital market: competitors' access to Google Search data and deeper integration of competing AI assistants into Android.
The news matters because it shows the direction in which online search is moving. Google is no longer being examined only as a search engine, but as infrastructure that influences how AI assistants, mobile applications, organic results and traffic sources for businesses develop.
What the European Commission decided
The European Commission issued two binding specification decisions. The first concerns Android and seeks to give competing AI services access to operating-system features under conditions comparable to those available to Google services, including Gemini. The second concerns Search data and establishes how Google must, under certain conditions, share anonymized data with eligible search engines.
In simple terms, the European Union is trying to reduce Google's structural advantage derived from its very large volume of data, Android distribution and integration of its own services into the mobile system. The measures do not mean that every application automatically receives unrestricted access to everything Google collects. Access is conditional, audited and limited to purposes related to the development of search services or AI assistants.
Which Search data competitors could receive
According to the Commission's explanations, Google must share anonymized data relevant to optimizing search services. Broadly, this includes query, ranking, click and view information: data that helps a search engine understand what users search for, which results are displayed and how people interact with them.
This detail matters greatly for AI. Chatbots that offer search features, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or similar products, need fresh data and strong retrieval systems to provide current answers. If access to data becomes more balanced, competitors may be able to build better search services without depending exclusively on their own crawling or limited commercial agreements.
The Commission also specifies clear limits. The data cannot be used for the general training of AI models, advertising profiling or systematic copying of Google results. The purpose is to improve search technologies, not to transfer Google's entire advantage to other companies.
How user privacy is protected
Privacy is a sensitive point. Search data can contain extremely personal information even when it appears at first glance to consist of simple queries. The Commission says the data must be anonymized through a multilayered method: removing direct identifiers, suppressing rare or excessively long queries, generalizing metadata and applying anonymization thresholds.
Access will be granted only to eligible beneficiaries subject to contractual obligations, technical requirements, independent audits and restrictions on data reuse. Google may assess serious cybersecurity and data-protection risks before sharing, while the Commission may adjust the measures if new risks or significant market changes emerge.
What changes for Android and AI assistants
On Android, the measures concern interoperability. The Commission says competing AI assistants currently have restricted access to important system features, while Google services can use deeper integrations. Under the new decision, third-party AI services should be able to access features such as activation by voice commands, on-device context, actions within applications, on-screen automation, system integration and background execution.
This may change the user experience. Instead of one assistant having the best integration with the phone, a user could choose a preferred AI assistant for different tasks: drafting an email, creating a note, scheduling a meeting, ordering a product or completing an action in an installed application.
The actual implementation timeline
For Search data, the Commission identifies several stages in 2026, with the anonymized dataset to be completed by November 2026 and the pricing offer to be completed by January 2027. This means effective access is not an immediately visible change for users, but a technical and contractual system that must be built.
The Android timeline is different. The Commission's documentation states that the measures must be implemented in the next major Android release, Android 18, no later than 1 August 2027. For competing hotword voice activation, the deadline is tied to Android 19, no later than 1 August 2028. The accurate wording is therefore that benefits for users will appear gradually, not overnight.
Why this matters for ChatGPT, Perplexity and other AI products
AI products that include search face two major challenges: finding relevant information in time and being able to act in the ecosystems where users already work. If access to Search data and Android features becomes more balanced, alternative AI assistants may have a better chance of providing stronger answers, more current results and more useful actions in applications.
For companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, Anthropic or other AI providers with search features, this decision may reduce an important barrier: the lack of search data at a scale comparable to Google's. Access is not unlimited, however. Beneficiaries must be eligible, comply with the permitted purpose and demonstrate the technical and legal ability to protect the data.
What it means for businesses that depend on Google traffic
For businesses, the practical implication is clear: traffic sources may become more fragmented. Google remains dominant, but search is also moving into AI interfaces, mobile assistants and generated answers that can decide which sources are cited, recommended or used for actions.
A website should no longer be optimized only for traditional Google positions. It must be clear, fast, semantically well structured, easy to cite and easy for AI systems to understand. Content must answer real questions precisely and provide consistent information about the business, services, location, prices, processes and authority. AI and LLM optimization belongs in the same direction, which Web Hat Solutions treats as a natural extension of technical SEO.
For businesses that build applications, the Android change may matter just as much. A well-designed application could be integrated more easily with AI assistants if mobile systems open access to actions, local data and user-controlled operational workflows.
What to monitor in the coming period
Three developments are worth monitoring over the next few months. The first is how Google will implement access to Search data and which companies will become eligible. The second is whether AI assistants with search features will rapidly improve the quality of their results. The third is how these features will actually be integrated into Android, because there may be a large difference between a legal obligation and a good user experience.
For businesses, the direction is clear enough even before full implementation: digital content must be built for several discovery interfaces, not only the traditional Google results page. The website, structured data, service pages, articles and custom applications must be understandable to search engines, chatbots and AI assistants.
What a business can do now
A business does not need to wait until 2027 to prepare. The practical steps are already useful: a technical SEO audit, clearer content on commercial pages, structured data, useful and current articles, well-differentiated service pages, answers to real customer questions and a coherent internal architecture.
In Web Hat Solutions projects, this direction is directly connected to SEO, AI and LLM optimization and custom applications with AI integration. The objective is not to follow each platform change in isolation, but to build digital presences that remain easy to find, cite and connect to modern workflows.
Practical checklist for businesses
- Monitor whether alternative AI assistants begin sending traffic, citations or enquiries to the website.
- Prepare structured content about services, prices, comparisons and processes so search engines and AI assistants can understand it.
- For custom applications, design workflows so important actions can be connected through secure APIs.
- Do not change the SEO strategy after a single news report; monitor actual implementation in 2027 and real project data.
What to remember in practice
The European Union decision does not immediately change Google results and does not guarantee that a chatbot will become an equal competitor overnight. It does, however, establish an important direction: data, mobile systems and AI assistants are no longer treated separately. Search, applications and automation are beginning to come together in a single ecosystem.
For users, this may mean more choice. For businesses, it may mean more sources of visibility, but also greater pressure to provide well-structured content and clean digital data. For SEO, the message is simple: optimization no longer ends with traditional Google. Websites and applications must be prepared for a market in which search engines, chatbots and AI assistants increasingly use the same data to decide what to recommend.
