Google Search Rivals Urge EU To Revisit Android Antitrust Case (venturebeat.com) 15
A group of search engines from around the world are banding together to demand European Union regulators address Google's dominance in the online search market. They are also urging the EU to take a closer look at Google's controversial auction process. From a report: The news comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust case, which formally launched last week. The suit alleges that Google violates anti-competition laws by crowding out rivals in the internet search and advertising markets. DuckDuckGo (U.S.), Ecosia (Germany), Lilo and Qwant (France), and Seznam (Czech Republic) have penned an open letter to European Commission executive VP Margrethe Vestager asking her to take a "renewed look" at the policing of Google's search market dominance. As an initial step, the companies are calling for a trilateral meeting between themselves, the European Commission (EC), and Google to look at the issue of search engine competition in Europe and elsewhere. More specifically, Google's smaller rivals want to establish a more "effective preference menu," giving Android users an easier way to choose a default search engine when setting up their device for the first time.
Maybe build a better search engine? (Score:1)
Are any of these lawsuit happy search engines even on par with Google?
You know the adage - those who can, do. Those who can't sue.
Maybe divert some of your resourced from the lawyer and bribe department to research and development?
Re: (Score:3)
I think the trouble is that when mindshare hits a certain level the competitor can't just be roughly equivalent, it needs to be generationally better than the existing tool or people won't even notice it. That said, I would assume the mindshare also means that when presented with a ballot users would automatically choose Google as I don't believe we're at a point where the average user has a negative opinion about them.
To me the irony here is that Android became a dominant smartphone platform in a large par
Re: Maybe build a better search engine? (Score:2)
All a search engine has to do to be successful is to do SOMETHING better than google, and deliver DECENT results. None of the others can manage EITHER.
You know how "I'm not a Republican" is considered insufficient to attract voters? "We're not Google" is insufficient to attract users.
Re: (Score:3)
Google is fucking terrible and has been for years. The majority of my terms are ignored and even wrapping them in quotes is no guarantee they will be present in the results. Remember when keywords mattered? Now they throw some random kind of related shit back at me which is of zero help.
Re: (Score:2)
Google is fucking terrible and has been for years. The majority of my terms are ignored and even wrapping them in quotes is no guarantee they will be present in the results. Remember when keywords mattered?
Google ceased being a keyword search engine years ago. It's now a natural language search engine. It still sort of works if you give it a list of keywords, but it works much better if you give it a question, including all of the English filler words that Google used to completely ignore.
Re: (Score:2)
I fully agree that Google is terrible at search. I just haven't found any other search engines that suck any less. Although I am generally more than happy to be exploited by Google... er... "use google products", I would happily try another search engine if it could at least match, and ideally beat, Google, it feels like a low bar to cross, but from trying other search engines, it must be a truly difficult nut to crack.
Note: THERE IS NO ASCII ART IN THIS COMMENT YOU STUPID, MORONIC, FILTER! I DON'T KNOW WH
It's why they regulate (Score:2)
"All relevant donations and 'donations' have already been made in accordance with regulatory theory, and the case is closed. Thank you, come again!"
It is Trivial to change (Score:2)
I don't understand this logic.
1) Unlike iOS, It's nearly trivial to change default search engines in Android. Google's own Play Store has alternative search engines ready to install in a single click. https://play.google.com/store/... [google.com]
2) Unlike Windows in the 90's and iOS today, Google doesn't keep Android APIs secret for only their own use. If Google can do it, anyone can do it.
3) Unlike Windows in the 90's and iOS today, Android doesn't natively prefer Google's apps and Android doesn't natively cripple app
Re: (Score:2)
1) Unlike iOS, It's nearly trivial to change default search engines in Android.
You don't understand because you're fundamentally confused about what the situation is about. It's got nothing to do with *users* changing something. And everything to do with search engines getting a foot in the door, a practice that Google banned as part of Play Store certification, and rightfully got absolutely demolished by the regulator for.
2) is correct.
3) is completely wrong by default, again you can't ship a device with the Play Store without also shipping Google's tools.
4) is irrelevant. People don
Re: (Score:2)
1) Duck Duck Go can make and sell their own version of Android and their own store. If Google's monopoly was that bad then they wouldn't have any problem getting major developers on their side to support it (compare this to what's going on in the developer community right now in iOS).
2) Is correct.
3) The play store is NOT a part of Android. Amazon's kindle fire is easily the most successful and most popular android tablet and it doesn't include the Play store or any Google services at all. What you mean is
Re: (Score:2)
1) Duck Duck Go can make and sell their own version of Android and their own store.
Exactly as I said. You fundamentally misunderstood the complaint, the search market, and how Android and the phone market works. All the while you also postulate this supposedly easily creatable world of healthy competition which doesn't exist while ignoring the very companies which have attempted to do what you've proposed (Amazon, Cyanogen) have utterly failed to make a dent in the market precisely due to the market conditions you are ignoring/misunderstanding.
3) The play store is NOT a part of Android. Amazon's kindle fire is easily the most successful and most popular android tablet
Ding ding ding. We have a winner. You admit t
*sigh* (Score:2)
I am starting to think these guys won't be satisfied until the user is forced to jump through ridiculous hoops to choose Google above alternatives - which, by the way, they will still do en-masse, just as they have done on desktops for two decades.
All these regulations do is make things an enormous PITA for Europeans, with no actual benefits to them.
Re: (Score:2)
I have used Firefox as my default browser for years. I've never had my phone automatically switch back to "the Google default browser". What are you even talking about?
Mommy! (Score:2)