Britain’s competition authority on Friday activated new powers to oversee Google’s search operations, placing the United States tech giant under heightened regulatory scrutiny.

The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it is granting Google “strategic market status” for its general search and search advertising services.

This follows a nearly nine-month investigation in which the regulator found that Google holds “substantial and entrenched market power.”

The CMA noted that Google’s Gemini AI assistant is not covered by the designation, though other AI-driven search features are included.

“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 CMA, said in a statement.

“Having taken into account the feedback received following our proposed decision, we have today designated Google’s search services with strategic market status.”

The CMA emphasized that the designation is not a “finding of wrongdoing.”

However, it does signal that Google may need to make changes to how its search services operate in the U.K.

What those measures might entail remains unclear, as the CMA said consultations on potential interventions are expected to begin later this year.

Meanwhile, Google has stated that its search services generate billions of pounds for the U.K. economy, noting that the country has so far avoided imposing costly restrictions on some of its popular offerings.

“Many of the ideas for interventions that have been raised in this process would inhibit UK innovation and growth, potentially slowing product launches at a time of profound AI-based innovation,” said Oliver Bethell, senior director of competition at Google.