The publisher of the Daily Mail has accused Google of promoting the Guardian and the BBC in search results because they are less critical of the tech giant, as another deadline looms over an attempted buyout by its controlling shareholder.

DMGT claims Google and Facebook have become “quasi-regulators” of news as the MailOnline owner stepped up complaints about its treatment by the Silicon Valley firms.

The Metro and Mail on Sunday publisher said Google’s search engine overwhelmingly favours the BBC and the Guardian on terms such as “Boris Johnson” and “Brexit” despite the MailOnline being the most visited news website in the world.

The publisher alleges its critical coverage of Google may have harmed MailOnline’s rankings, alongside changes to its search algorithm.

The accusations come as Lord Rothermere races towards a deadline on Thursday to make a so-called “put up or shut up” offer for the news publishing business.

Daily Mail and General Trust PLC

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