The European Commission has ordered Google to open key parts of Android and its search-data operation to rival AI and search providers, in a move that could reshape how mobile services are discovered, recommended and ultimately purchased.
Two binding decisions issued under the Digital Markets Act require Google to give competing AI assistants much deeper access to Android, while also sharing anonymised search data with qualifying third-party search engines, including AI chatbots offering online search.
The Commission says the measures are designed to stop Google using its control of Android and Search to extend its dominance into the emerging AI-assistant market. Around 60% of European mobile users have an Android device, while Google controls some 89% of European search traffic, giving Google’s Gemini assistant a potentially powerful distribution advantage.
Android opens to rival assistants
Under the Android ruling, rival AI services must be given effective access to 11 operating-system capabilities currently available more fully to Google’s own services.
These include voice activation, access to contextual information from the screen, sensors and apps, background operation and the ability to perform actions within other applications.
Users could therefore activate a preferred third-party assistant by voice and ask it to send a message, book a taxi, order food, interact with media or complete another multi-stage task without manually opening and navigating each app.
Google must implement most of the measures in Android 18 by 1 August 2027. The ability for multiple assistants to operate concurrent voice “wake words” must follow with Android 19 by August 2028. Users will have to consent before an assistant can access device features or personal context.
Search data shared from 2027
The second ruling requires Google to share anonymised query, ranking, click and view data generated through both free and paid search.
Eligible search providers will be able to use the information to improve query understanding, indexing, retrieval and ranking. AI chatbots with search capabilities may also use it to ground their answers in more current and relevant web information.
The data cannot, however, be used to train general-purpose AI models, construct consumer profiles or improve unrelated advertising services.
Google must prepare the anonymised dataset by November 2026, with its final pricing and access offer due by January 2027. The company may recover the incremental cost of supplying the data, but access must be offered on fair and non-discriminatory terms.
Google has criticised the decisions, warning that giving external services powerful Android permissions and access to sensitive capabilities could undermine privacy and device security. The Commission says the measures include consent, certification and data-protection safeguards.
Rival search engines are, naturally, delighted. “Today the European Commission has shown both courage and clarity,” says Dr Wolfgang Oels, Managing Director, Ecosia. “For years, we have argued that fines alone cannot fix a monopoly – only behavioural or structural remedies can. This decision is precisely that: a behavioural remedy. Google will be required to share the ranking data that is indispensible for search competition and the foundation of European AI. We congratulate Commission Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera and Henna Virkkunen on their resolve, and are ready to put this ranking data to work for European users from day one.”
Boris Lecoeur, CEO, Qwant and European Search Perspective, adds: “This is a decision that Europe’s citizens, businesses and democratic institutions have needed for a long time. Control over ranking data is a question of who controls European citizens’ and businesses’ access to information. It is indispensible for privacy friendly alternatives to Google to emerge. The Commission has understood this. We now call on Google to comply in good faith and in full, without the dilatory tactics and excessive anonymisation thresholds it deployed during the 2025 compliance workshops. The window for those games is closed.”
AI becomes the mobile storefront
For telemedia companies, the ruling does not directly change DCB, cards, wallets or subscription regulation, but it potentially has an impact further up the customer journey. More capable search engines could create new acquisition routes beyond Google, while rival Android assistants may become new interfaces through which consumers discover entertainment, games, information and subscription services.
“For anyone buying paid traffic on Google, this changes less than the headline suggests, at least for now,” says Christopher Henseler, co-founder of MeshAds. “The search data Google has to share can’t be used for ad targeting or profiling, so it hands advertisers no new advantage in the auction.”
However, he goes on to warn: “What’s worth watching is longer term: if rival AI assistants get the same access to Android and to fresh search data as Google’s own, part of the discovery that happens today inside search results starts moving into AI assistants. That shifts where you compete for attention over the next two to three years. It’s a direction, not something that hits campaigns this year.”
An assistant could eventually be asked to find a mobile gaming package, check whether it works on the user’s network and initiate a subscription. Telemedia providers will consequently need clear machine-readable service information, APIs, deep links, eligibility checks and payment flows capable of handling agent-initiated transactions.
Transparent pricing, recurring-payment consent and straightforward cancellation will become particularly important when an AI is comparing offers on the consumer’s behalf.
The ruling may loosen Google’s exclusive control of mobile AI, but it will not necessarily return traffic to conventional websites. Instead, it could create a more fragmented market in which several AI assistants compete to stand between the customer and the service provider.
