Google sets rules for rivals to buy its EU search data

Google has published the rules for a new programme. It is called the European Search Dataset Licensing Program. Under it, Google will pass data from Google Search in the European Economic Area to rival search engines. The data is anonymised, which means it does not name the people who searched. Rivals can sign agreements from 17 September 2026. The first samples of data arrive from 16 November.

The programme comes from a decision the European Commission made on 16 July. It rests on the Digital Markets Act, the EU law for the biggest online companies. That law calls Google a gatekeeper. So Google has to share ranking, search, click and view data on fair and equal terms.

Not every company can apply. An applicant should run a search engine used by people in the European Economic Area. It should have had at least 50,000 users a month there, on average, over the past year. It should also have offered search in the EU for two years in a row. A newer company can qualify instead if it has raised at least 50 million euros. Companies controlled by a state outside the European Economic Area are excluded, and so are companies under EU sanctions. One point matters a lot here. Under the Digital Markets Act, an AI chatbot now counts as a search engine. So a service such as ChatGPT could in principle apply. The Commission named ChatGPT a very large online search engine this week.

Google is offering three levels. There is a free sample of 1,000 rows. There is a paid, made-up dataset of up to 10 million searches. And there is a paid share of five percent of the full dataset. Google can charge only what the extra work costs it, plus a set rate of return. Before a company can touch the five percent sample or the full set, an independent auditor should check it. Companies that keep receiving data are watched all the time.

Bing, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia have lacked Google’s search data

Search data is the main reason rivals have not matched Google’s results for twenty years. Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Qwant and the newer AI answer services all say the same thing. Without enough search and click data, they cannot match Google’s quality. The Digital Markets Act now forces the point. Google’s own paperwork is the first clear sign of what following the rules will cost its rivals. For people who work on search rankings the effect is indirect. Better rivals may make European search a little less centred on Google. AI assistants trained on real searches and clicks may also get better at showing the same pages that rank well today.

Google promises to answer interested companies within seven days

Google says it will reply within seven days to any company that shows interest. Search Engine Roundtable points out that Google has been sharing some search data with approved companies since March 2024. Two questions are still open. How many companies will pass the audit? And will the Commission accept the prices and the sample sizes? DuckDuckGo has already asked Brussels to look into how Google followed earlier Digital Markets Act rules. So the first licences, and the first complaints, may both arrive before the end of the year.