(Bloomberg/Upmanyu Trivedi) — Alphabet Inc.’s Google became the first company to be designated with so called strategic market status in the UK, exposing the US firm’s online search and advertising business to a closer scrutiny by the country’s antitrust watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority said Google’s entrenched market power merits the designation — aimed at ensuring competition in digital markets. The watchdog raised concerns over fairness in Google search results, high advertising costs and artificial intelligence-generated search responses.

“We have found that Google maintains a strategic position in the search and search advertising sector – with more than 90% of searches in the UK taking place on its platform,” Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the

See Full Page