New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) formally designated Google with "strategic market status" (SMS) in online search on Friday. This is the first time the United Kingdom (UK) has exercised its new powers to tackle the dominance of major technology firms.

This significant move paves the way for the CMA to use tailored regulatory interventions to compel the Alphabet-owned company to change its operating practices within the British search market.

"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," the CMA's Executive Director for Digital Markets Will Hayter said in a statement.

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