Google may have to make changes to its search services in the UK to ensure greater competition, the watchdog has said. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the American technology giant under a new law which means the regulator can demand changes at a firm if it is found to hold too much power in a particular market.

The UK’s competition regulator is proposing to loosen Google’s control of its search engine and hand more power back to publishers, in the first application of Britain’s tough new digital market rules.