Google Opens Auction For Default Android Search Engine in Europe (venturebeat.com) 29
Google has opened up an auction to allow alternative search engines to become the default providers on mobile devices in Europe. From a report: Beginning in early 2020, anyone setting up a new Android device in the European Economic Area (EEA) will see a choice screen, where they will be asked to select which search engine they wish to use as a default. Four options (Qwant, Ecosia, Google, Yahoo) will be available, including Google, and these will vary from country to country, depending on which companies apply for inclusion. The move comes a year after Google was hit with a record $5 billion fine by EU antitrust regulators for the way it bundled its services on Android, with claims that Google forced manufacturers to preinstall certain Google apps to gain access to others.
Given the option (Score:2)
I'm still going to select Google. And I'm sure the vast majority will too. To me, the option doesn't mean much...
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Most people seem to know that Google is just a search engine. And that there are other search engines out there, they just don't bother to use them. (Unless some malware has changed the default search engine away f
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EU engines (Score:2)
Qwant and Ecosia are EU-based (FR and DE respectively), Yahoo is a large corporation that also has improtant office presence on European soil (and probably also involved some kickbacks to earn its position on the choice list).
That's why these engines are there.
DuckDuckGo, despite all its marketing about respecting privacy, is based in the US (both not the main mareket targeted by this move and might have some concerns about the out-of-EU location of data) and probably isn't interested in paying the necessar
So Google or bust? (Score:2)
Never heard of any of the other search engines except for Yahoo which is an absolute garbage search engine and to most people equals bankruptcy and ads.
So theyâ(TM)re probably sticking to the letter of the law but giving a big middle finger to the EU wanting ârealâ(TM) choice.
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EU based (Score:2)
the two other search-engines are eu-based (Qwant is french, ecosia is german).
that's pro!Perhapsbably why you haven't heard of them.
example.com (Score:1)
Auction? Default? You collect a list of search engines and let the users select from an online list (in random order).
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Not all search engines are created equal. How is it to users' benefit to present them with patently useless search engines which they then can't easily change in the name of increasing competition.
Let's face it, the search market is sewn up. The amount of resources you need to start a competing search engine that is anywhere near as good as Google or even Bing is gargantuan. Smaller search engines are typically a front-end for one of the bigger players anyway, and are probably free research projects for the
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Useless? Ecosa sounds decent. They claim to be privacy focused and are based in Germany which has strong privacy laws on top of what GDPR provides.
Privacy seems like a decent differentiator in a market that you think is "sewn up". From TFA I see that DuckDuckGo is also an option in some regions, and Play Store offers many more, as well as alternative browsers like Firefox.
Seems like a worthwhile effort and something likely to result in a more diverse mobile browser and search ecosystem.
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I was responding to the parent who had suggested that search engines offered to users should be random based off a list somewhere on the internet. Outside the top 5 or so search engines, the quality goes downhill quickly, or you end up with essentially front-ends to Google and Bing anyway.
That is what I was objecting to because you end up offering users really rubbish search engines and excluding the really good ones in the name of randomness.
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