Google Drops Payments for Search Rivals on Android After EU Steps in

• Google is shutting down its ‘pay-to-play’ search engine auction for space on Android phones in Europe.
• This allowed rivals a shot at becoming the default search option for Android users in the EU.
• Google says it’s making the auction free after “feedback” from Europe’s competition authority.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

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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