Turkey’s Competition Authority (Rekabet Kurumu) announced on November 2 that it has opened an investigation into whether Google violated Article 6 of Act no 4054, the abuse-of-dominance provision, through AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search. The Competition Board also took an interim measure on October 8 covering Google’s use of news publishers’ content in both features and the contractual terms that govern that use. In our reading, one of its three conditions relates to a Search Console control Google already ships; the Board does not say whether that control is enough.
What did Turkey’s Competition Board decide about Google AI Overviews?
The Board examined the matter in a preliminary inquiry under decision 26-31/932-M of August 27, 2026, then launched a full investigation under Article 41 of Act no 4054. On October 8, 2026, it adopted interim measures against Google under decision 26-37/1000-423, citing Article 9.4 of the same Act. It is an investigation and an interim measure, not a finding of a violation: the Board says the indications concerning news publishers reached the level of “strong suspicion”.
What does the interim measure require?
The Board’s English announcement says the measures are meant “to ensure that Google establish the conditions which would not lead to discrimination among news publishers, reflect the economic value of the use of their content and allow publishers to set their options concerning the use of their content in the relevant services independently of their visibility and indexing on other services provided by Google.” In plain terms, three conditions:
- (a) no discrimination among news publishers;
- (b) terms that reflect the economic value of the use of their content;
- (c) publisher choices on content use in AI Overviews and AI Mode, set independently of visibility and indexing elsewhere at Google.
The conduct wording differs by language. The English page speaks of “exclusionary and exploitative behavior”; the Turkish original says “ayrımcı ve sömürücü”, discriminatory and exploitative. Both agree on “exploitative”. The measure names news publishers only, while the preliminary inquiry also examined effects on other content creators and AI chatbots. Türkiye Today notes the measures “do not ban Google’s AI features”.
Doesn’t Search Console already have a switch?
There is a related control, which in our reading bears only on condition (c). Google’s help page for the Search generative AI control states: “As of August 31, 2026, we’ve rolled out this control to all websites worldwide.” It covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover, and lives under Settings > Search generative AI. Choosing to exclude means “You won’t receive any traffic or impressions from these features.” Google also says the control “isn’t used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.”
We described the toggle when it first reached UK sites in June; per the help page it is now worldwide. It is set per Search Console property; by default a child property inherits its parent’s setting, which the owner can override. The page describes no per-page setting. It also does not touch training: for that, Google points to Google-Extended, which we covered in our piece on the shared AI-training token.
The Board does not say whether this control meets condition (c). The worldwide rollout (August 31) predates the Turkish measure (October 8); nothing in the sources links them.
| Condition | What Google ships today (help page) | Open question |
|---|---|---|
| (a) No discrimination among news publishers | Nothing on news publishers or agreements | How non-discrimination will be assessed is not stated |
| (b) Terms reflect economic value | Nothing on payment or licensing | How “economic value” is measured is not stated |
| (c) Choices independent of visibility and indexing | Property-level control that “isn’t used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search” | Board does not say if it is enough |
What the announcement does not say
It sets no compliance deadline, names no mechanism and gives no amount or method for valuing content use. It carries no Google response.
The UK offers a contrast. The CMA’s June 3 release said publishers “will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search”, and that it will, if needed, “bring forward work on further measures to ensure a fair exchange of value between Google and publishers”. Turkey’s interim measure puts value into the condition itself, though the announcement does not say how.
What should site owners check?
Open Search Console and look under Settings > Search generative AI to see which option each property uses; the default is to include your links and content. Google says excluded content drops out within 1-2 days, though some may take longer because of caching and propagation. The control does not limit training, and to remove a page from Google Search completely the help page points to noindex. The announcement does not say whether the Turkish order changes any of this.
