BERLIN, March 5, 2020 (WNM) - Since March 1st, purchasers of new Android smartphones and tablets in the EU have more choice when it comes to search engines. Up to now, Google was pre-installed as the sole search engine. But now, users can choose between Google and three other search engines when setting up their device.
Which search engines are available depends on the country in which the smartphone is purchased. Some search engines like DuckDuckgo are available everywhere. However, GMX is only available in Germany and Austria. And the Russian search engine Yandex is offered to users in some EU countries, like Poland, Finland, Estonia and others. The French search engine Qwant is available to users in, for example, France, Belgium and Italy.
As Guillaume Champeau, Head of Ethical and Legal Affairs at Qwant, explained to the World News Monitor, “Up to now, it was very difficult to enter the mobile communications market, and in many ways it still is. Before users could choose an alternative search engine, we had to make them aware that we exist and explain how they could switch to us. The selection screen will help here, and it establishes Qwant as a competitor product.”
Google decided to take this step after the EU Commission had ordered the Internet giant to pay a fine of EUR 4.34 billion for abusing its dominant position in the market. This is the highest fine of its type that the EU has ever imposed on a company. As Arianna Podesta, spokesperson for the EU Commission on competition matters, explained to the World News Monitor, “The Commission is committed to a full and effective implementation of the decision. We will continue monitoring closely the implementation of the choice screen mechanism.”
The three alternative slots were auctioned off by Google in a secret procedure in every single country of the EU. And, in future, Google plans to conduct such a bidding process once every quarter. This means that the current providers are only fixed for the period from 1st March to 30th June 2020. Moreover, not everyone agrees with this new procedure. For example, as Christian Kroll, founder and CEO of the search machine Ecosia, points out, “In our view, the fact that smaller competitors have to pay to have a position on the selection screen is not in keeping with the idea behind the decision of the EU Commission in July 2018. Internet users deserve to have the freedom to choose themselves what search engine they use, and this reaction by Google is an affront to our right to a free and open Internet. This is why we have boycotted the auction and asked other search machines to do the same.”
Jens Fauldrath, founder and CEO of get:traction GmbH is sceptical about the value of all this for the other competitors. “It remains to be seen how much these selection functions will actually be used. The providers will certainly be measuring how much access and advertising revenue they are getting as a result of this integration. This will undoubtedly determine the price at the next auction.”
By contrast, Ilja Grabowski from the press office of Yandex is confident that the company will profit from this new arrangement. “It opens the way for competition. This means that the service quality of all the players on the market will improve. Users will benefit because they now have the option of choosing the product that is the fastest and most efficient at doing what they want it to do.”