When antitrust accusations close in on Google, the tech giant loves to fire back a retort that competition is “one click away“. It’s a disingenuous retort from an online advertising behemoth whose power and profits stem from its expertise in capturing markets by manipulating and monopolizing Internet users’ attention.
Indeed, the entire brand is arguably a dark pattern. Behold the child-like colors! The friendly babble of syllables! The tempting freebies! The tall talk of missions and moonshots! And tucked quietly beneath that Googley exterior: The adtech giant tracking Internet users en masse to sell their attention. The business model makes money through mass surveillance and people profiling.
Google’s ‘other bets’ have always been PR pocket change besides its ads profit machine. The fun stuff is how Google primes its people data pump. So what if Google’s infamous ‘one-click competition’ claim was to be made true in Android search engine choice? A market where Google’s activity is closely monitored by EU competition regulators — after a 2018 antitrust decision.
Three years ago, the tech giant was hit with a $5BN penalty and an order to stop using Android (aka its freebie for mobile device makers) to lock in the dominance of its own-brand search engine (and other Google services) on mobile, where its operating system is massively dominant. It adopted a so-called ‘choice screen’ on Android in the region, prompting device users to pick a default search engine from a selection of options (Google auctions slots to rivals).
But the choice is more of a one-shot than a dynamic, ongoing possibility to switch the default for Android users — as they are only asked to choose their default choice on setting up a new device or after a factory reset.
“That means, for all practical purposes, if you want to change your default device search engine again easily, you can’t,” writes DuckDuckGo in its latest blog post pushing for reform of Google’s self-serving Android ‘remedy’.
DDG’s count takes 15+ clicks (not one) to switch the default search engine on an Android device at any other point (i.e., after initial setup or factory reset). And it says it knows “from experience” that this over-15-clicks method “trips up almost everyone”. “In other words, one-click competition becomes, in fact, ‘one factory reset away’,” it goes on. “The only reasons we can think of for setting up a preference menu this way are anti-competitive ones.”
The pro-privacy search engine has been banging the drum for months (if not years). Nor is it alone in complaining about Google’s remedy. And complaints aren’t limited to how hard it is to switch search engines at any other point after set-up, either.
Notably, Google’s decision to opt for a ‘pay-to-play’ model by auctioning slots on the choice screen has been widely criticized — with multiple search rivals arguing that an auction isn’t fair and does not result in a level playing field for competition (Google’s search engine always appears as a choice, of course, and it doesn’t have to pay anyone to appear).
Not-for-profit search engine Ecosia, for example, points out that the auction format essentially discriminates against non-profit search engines, undermining the public good they may be trying to do (in its case, it uses ad revenue from search to plant trees to try to help reduce global carbon emissions — so money paid to Google to win the auction means less money it can spend planting trees).
DDG has also criticized the paid auction model from the start. But its latest blog post told TechCrunch it’s trying to make sure the ‘ease of switching’ issue doesn’t get lost in criticism of the auction. It continues to argue that multiple components need to be reformed if the choice screen is to have the pro-competition effect EU antitrust regulators are seeking.
It’s increasingly clear that the current implementation isn’t working for anyone other than Google — which has been able to maintain its grip on the mobile search market almost three years after the Commission’s antitrust intervention. Its share of the search engine market on mobile devices has not declined since 2018. Indeed, as of February, it was up slightly on the marketshare it had when the antitrust ruling was made, per Statista data.
That can’t be what market rebalancing success looks like. Previously when we’ve put rivals’ criticisms to the Commission, it tends to offer a few stock responses — saying it’s monitoring Google’s implementation and is committed to effective implementation of the 2018 decision — while avoiding engaging with the substance of the criticisms or specific suggestions to fix Google’s remedy.
The Commission reiterated the same lines when we contacted it now about DuckDuckGo’s call for actual ‘one-click competition on Android by easier default search engine switching. But there are signs EU regulators may finally be preparing to do something. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on comments made by antitrust chief and Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager, who said regulators are “actively working on making” Google’s Android choice screen for search and browser rivals work.
She is also reported that market share “is changing a bit, but we’re working on it”. In additional comments, the Commission reiterated that it’s “committed to a full and effective implementation of the decision, saying: “We are therefore monitoring the implementation of the choice screen mechanism closely.”
“We have been discussing the choice screen mechanism with Google, following relevant feedback from the market, particularly about the presentation and mechanics of the choice screen and to the selection mechanism of rival search providers,” it added.
DuckDuckGo declined to detail any chats it’s having with EU regulators on reforming the choice screen — saying that it can’t comment on discussions with the Commission. But founder Gabriel Weinberg pointed out other jurisdictions are eyeing how to remedy Google’s dominance, adding that “major countries are actively considering search preference menus right now”. The US Justice Department, meanwhile, filed its antitrust lawsuit against Google last October. And US states are also challenging the tech giant in court.
“We believe a ‘choice screen’ that only appears once at startup will not meaningfully increase market competition or give consumers the freedom and simplicity they deserve to choose Google alternatives,” Weinberg also told us. “On the other hand, a properly designed preference menu gives users true one-click access to making Google competitors the default search on their device, without having to take the absurd step of factory resetting their phone.”
DDG has some plain advice for how regulators can beat Google at its own game and prevent its gaming search competition on Android in its blog post. “The sensible approach is to give users an easy pathway to the search preference menu by letting them tap a link from a search engine app or website within the default browser (e.g., Chrome). With that simple tap, the user is whisked directly to the search preference menu,” it writes.
“Not allowing competing search engines to guide consumers back to the search preference menu easily is a pretty big dark pattern because it is requiring users to make an important choice when they often aren’t ready to do so, and then not giving them the option to easily change their mind later while using a competing search engine.”
“So, to anyone considering implementing a search preference menu or drafting regulations covering search preference menus, please ensure that consumers can access it at any time, especially after a consumer has just chosen to use a competing search engine,” it adds. “Functionality that allows competing search engines to guide consumers directly to the preference menu is necessary for consumer empowerment and search market competition.”