European users of Android devices will see more options for search engines from September. Now, in addition to Google itself, only a limited number of alternative search engines are available. To prevent a new legal row in the European Union, the company is expanding it.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was already fined more than 4 billion euros in 2018 for unfair competition with the Android mobile operating system. Then Google also received a list of changes that the technology group would have to make.
In 2019, the tech giant then came up with a selection screen for search engines. However, the freedom of choice for consumers was still somewhat limited. Owners of other search engines also had to pay to appear on the selection screen. Competing search engines such as Ecosia have complained about this.
Google promises that the five most popular search engines in a given country will be at the top of the selection screen as of September. Below are up to seven alternative search engines to choose from. Users can also download and set alternative search apps as default.
“Google is now doing what it should have done three years ago: introduce the Android free search preference list in the EU,” CEO Gabriel Weinberg said on Twitter. According to him, Google should also make similar changes for other platforms and in all countries.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was already fined more than 4 billion euros in 2018 for unfair competition with the Android mobile operating system. Then Google also received a list of changes that the tech suite had to implement, and in 2019, the tech giant then came up with a selection screen for search engines. However, the freedom of choice for consumers was still somewhat limited. Owners of other search engines also had to pay to appear on the selection screen. Competing search engines like Ecosia have complained about this, and Google has promised that the five most popular search engines in a given country will be at the top of the selection screen as of September. Below are up to seven alternative search engines to choose from. Users can also download and set alternative search apps as the default, and competitive search engine DuckDuckGo says Google’s new tweaks don’t go far enough. In the European Union, CEO Gabriel Weinberg said on Twitter. According to him, Google should also make similar changes for other platforms and in all countries.
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