Google’s direct rivals will no longer have to pay to become the default search engine on Android phones for users in the European Union.
The search giant has dropped its “pay-to-play” auction system after intervention from the EU’s competition watchdog.
This system meant competing search providers like
DuckDuckGo
and Microsoft’s Bing paid to bid to replace Google as the default Android search engine. A “choice screen” appeared on new Android phones in Europe, and allowed users to pick from these alternatives, replacing Google’s search engine on their devices.
It emerged after the EU’s competition arm slapped Google with a $5 billion fine for anticompetitive behavior in 2018, saying it had abused its dominant Android mobile operating system to cement the popularity of Google’s own apps and services.
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