Turkey opens competition probe into Google AI Overviews and orders interim terms for news publishers

Turkey's competition authority has opened a formal investigation into Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode search features. It has also ordered Google to change how it sets terms for using news publishers' content in those features while the case runs.

The Competition Authority, known in Turkish as Rekabet Kurumu, announced both steps on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. Its Turkish-language release and English-language release say the case will test whether Google broke Article 6 of Turkey's competition law. Article 6 bans the abuse of a dominant position.

The authority named five Google companies as one "economic unity": Alphabet Inc., Google Ireland Limited, Google LLC, Google International LLC and the Turkish unit Google Reklamcılık ve Pazarlama Ltd. Şti. Opening an investigation is not a finding that the law was broken. The Turkish tech site CHIP Online made the same point in its Nov. 3 report.

What the authority looked at

The case grew out of a preliminary inquiry. The Competition Board, the authority's decision-making body, opened that inquiry on Aug. 27, 2026, in decision 26-31/932-M. According to the authority's release, the inquiry looked at four questions.

Source: Rekabet Kurumu, Nov. 2, 2026

The third question is broader than news. It names AI chatbots as possible rivals that the features could shut out. That suggests the board is looking at Google's place in the wider market for AI answers, not only at its ties with newspapers.

The interim order

The board did more than open a case. At a meeting on Oct. 8, 2026, it adopted decision 26-37/1000-423 under Article 9(4) of the law. That article lets the board order temporary steps before a case ends when it fears serious harm.

The board said the signs of "exclusionary and exploitative behavior" toward news publishers had reached "the level of strong suspicion." That is the wording in the English release.

Under the order, Google must set terms for using publishers' content in AI Overviews and AI Mode that meet three tests:

• The terms must not discriminate among news publishers.
• The terms must reflect the economic value of the use of the publishers' content.
• Publishers must be able to set their choices about AI use of their content separately from their visibility and indexing in Google's other services.

The third test is the one with the most practical weight. Publishers in Europe and elsewhere have argued that they cannot block Google's AI features without also dropping out of normal search results. The Turkish order says those two choices must be separable. CHIP Online summed up the effect in its headline: a news site that declines AI summaries "will not disappear from search."

The release does not say how Google must meet the three tests. It also does not give a deadline or set a payment level. It does not say whether Google has already changed anything since the Oct. 8 decision. The board announced the interim order nearly four weeks after adopting it, alongside the investigation.

The state news agency Anadolu Agency reported the same details on Nov. 2.

1. 2025-12-09European Commission opens case AT.40983 on Google's use of publisher content for AI
2. 2026-03-31International Press Institute writes to Google about traffic losses at independent Turkish outlets
3. 2026-08-27Turkish Competition Board opens a preliminary inquiry into AI Overviews and AI Mode
4. 2026-10-08Board adopts interim measures on Google's terms for news publishers
5. 2026-11-02Authority announces the full investigation and the interim order

Source: Rekabet Kurumu, European Commission

Google's position

Google had not made a public statement on the Turkish decision as of Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 3. The regional news site Al-Monitor reported that it contacted Google and did not get a response.

Google has answered similar concerns elsewhere. When the European Commission opened its own case in December 2025, a Google spokesperson told the BBC that the complaint "risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever." The spokesperson added: "Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI era."

Google has also disputed claims that AI search is draining traffic from websites. In an August 2025 post on Google's blog, Liz Reid, who leads Google Search, wrote that total organic click volume from Google Search to websites had been "relatively stable year-over-year." She said Google was sending "slightly more quality clicks" than a year earlier. She said some third-party reports "inaccurately suggest dramatic declines in aggregate traffic," and that they were "often based on flawed methodologies." She also wrote that websites "always have control" over how their content appears, through open web protocols.

The European case

The Turkish case covers ground that the European Union is also examining. The European Commission's case AT.40983 was opened on Dec. 9, 2025. According to the BBC's report at the time, the Commission is examining whether Google used website content for its AI features without "appropriate compensation" to publishers. It is also looking at how YouTube videos may have been used for Google's AI systems, and whether creators could opt out.

Teresa Ribera, the Commission's executive vice president for competition, said then: "A free and democratic society depends on diverse media, open access to information, and a vibrant creative landscape." The BBC reported that she said AI brings "remarkable innovation" but that its growth should not come at the cost of EU values. Rosa Curling of the campaign group Foxglove told the BBC: "We need an urgent opt out for news publishers."

The British competition regulator has run a separate consultation on Google's conduct toward publishers. The tech industry group CCIA, whose members include Google, opposed separate AI controls in its February 2026 response to that UK consultation. It said a split between AI and search controls would create "an artificial distinction." It warned of "freezing a dynamic and innovative process" and said consumers would bear the costs if new features were delayed. The filing was about the UK case, not Turkey's.

There is earlier precedent too. In March 2024, France's competition authority fined Google 250 million euros for breaching commitments on payments to news publishers. The authority found that Google's Bard chatbot had used content from press agencies and publishers to train its model without telling them or the regulator. Google did not contest the facts and used a settlement procedure. It told Ars Technica that the fine was "not proportionate."

Why the case matters in Turkey

The order lands in a media market that press groups describe as under strain. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 says media ownership in Turkey is highly concentrated. It says the state deposit insurance fund has taken over several media groups. It also says changes to search and recommendation algorithms have been linked to traffic falls of up to 80% at some outlets. The report notes that the independent news site Gazete Duvar closed in 2025.

The same report describes other pressures on what Turkish audiences can see. It says the broadcast regulator RTÜK now licenses some YouTube news channels. It notes that the government declared 2025 the "Year of the Family." According to the report, the Family Ministry told officials to avoid terms such as "gender" and "sexual orientation." It adds that streamers have been fined over same-sex content.

In March 2026, the International Press Institute (IPI) wrote to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. The Vienna-based press freedom group said Google's core updates in August 2024, November 2024 and March 2025 had cut traffic at independent Turkish outlets by 60% to 80% in Google News and Discover. It linked the closure of Gazete Duvar to that loss of visibility.

The IPI letter also raised a concern about who benefits. It said Google's systems were "incentivizing a 'copy-paste' economy." It said available data raised questions about whether visibility was "concentrated among a small group of pro-government outlets." It made three requests of Google:

• Share raw traffic data with affected outlets.
• Commission an independent assessment of how updates affect media pluralism in Turkey.
• Include independent Turkish outlets in any content licensing programs.

The letter's concerns are broader than the Competition Board's case. The board's order deals with AI features and contract terms. It does not deal with ranking updates in Google News or Discover. Still, the order's first test, that terms must not discriminate among publishers, touches on the question IPI raised about which outlets gain or lose.

Turkey's media rules have also been a point of dispute in the case of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Rights groups have filed a brief with the European Court of Human Rights in that case. Journalists have also been detained in the separate investigation into Turkish investment funds.

How it fits a wider policy debate

Several governments are now writing rules for how AI tools use news and other content. Germany has set out a national AI roadmap built around digital sovereignty. In Britain, lawmakers recently debated a petition on a social media ban for under-16s. For a broader look at how Turkey's political system and economy compare, see our Türkiye vs. United States comparison.

The Turkish case stands out in one way. The authority made the investigation public together with an interim order that already applies.

Open questions in the case

An investigation is the formal stage of a Turkish competition case and follows the preliminary inquiry. Google will have a chance to respond before the board rules. If the board finds a breach of Article 6, it can impose fines and order changes in conduct. The authority's release did not give a timetable for this case.

Several questions remain open:

• How Google will show that its terms reflect the "economic value" of publishers' content.
• Whether Turkish publishers will get a working opt-out from AI features that leaves their normal search ranking intact.
• Whether Google will challenge the interim order in court.
• Whether the board's final decision will address AI chatbots as rival services, as the preliminary inquiry did.

567politics will update this story if Google or the Competition Authority comments further. Our editorial standards explain how we source and correct stories.

Differing perspectives

Should Turkey's competition authority require Google to change how its AI search features use news publishers' content?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• AI search sends valuable traffic to sites

  Who holds it: Google

  Google says AI features in Search are driving more queries and higher-quality clicks. Its head of Search wrote that total organic clicks to websites were relatively stable year over year, with slightly more quality clicks. She said third-party reports of sharp traffic declines often rest on flawed methods. Google says websites always keep control over how their content appears through open web protocols, and that it works with news and creative industries as they adapt to AI.

  In their words: Google (The Keyword blog, Liz Reid) ↗

• Avoid separate controls for AI features

  Who holds it: Computer & Communications Industry Association (in a UK consultation filing)

  CCIA, whose members include Google, argued in a UK proceeding that requiring separate publisher controls for AI features creates an artificial distinction within search. It said such rules risk freezing a dynamic and innovative process, could delay new features in one country compared with others, and could stifle innovation. It argued that consumers would bear the costs of fragmented or delayed products. The filing addressed Britain's regulator, not Turkey's.

  In their words: Computer & Communications Industry Association ↗

• Go further with data and pluralism checks

  Who holds it: International Press Institute and independent Turkish outlets it represents

  IPI says Google's 2024 and 2025 updates cut traffic to independent Turkish outlets by 60% to 80% in Google News and Discover and contributed to closures. It argues the systems reward copy-paste content and may concentrate visibility among pro-government outlets. It asks Google to share raw traffic data, publish an independent assessment of the impact on Turkish media pluralism, and include independent outlets in content licensing deals.

  In their words: International Press Institute ↗

• Require fair and separable terms now

  Who holds it: Turkish Competition Board (Rekabet Kurulu)

  The board says signs of exclusionary and exploitative conduct toward news publishers reached the level of strong suspicion, so it should act before the case ends. It ordered Google to set terms that do not discriminate among publishers and that reflect the economic value of their content. Publishers must also be able to make choices about AI use separately from their visibility and indexing in other Google services. The investigation will test whether Article 6 was breached.

  In their words: Rekabet Kurumu (Turkish Competition Authority) ↗