- Android phones in Europe will offer Bing as a search option due to 2018 EU antitrust law.
- DuckDuck Go, Yandex, and other search engines will be available on the selection screen.
- DuckDuck Go has criticized the auction process for allegedly favoring anti-privacy companies.
If you're buying an Android phone in Europe this fall, don't be surprised if asked how to use Bing Search. Google has its search engine selection screen (via Reuters and Engadget) for the final quarter of 2020 under the European Union Antitrust Law of 2018, and Bing will be one of the most common options for Android users on the continent from October 1st.
The Microsoft engine will be available in the UK (yes, included here) as well as 12 other countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. However, Bing isn't the most widely used search option. The American companies PrivacyWall and Info.com will be available in 22 and 31 countries respectively, while the privacy-oriented DuckDuckGo, the German GMX and the Russian Yandex will also be relatively common.
The selection was the result of an auction process in which the top three bidders in a given country were given random slots on the screen. Bing will be a choice for Android search in Europe precisely because Microsoft could pay to be included.
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However, not everyone is happy with this approach to Android antitrust decisions, and that includes at least one of the winners. DuckDuckGo blew the auction method by allegedly removing choices and rewarding engines willing to compromise privacy for larger bids. The auction effectively "priced" DuckDuckGo in some countries as it focuses on privacy and "cleaner" search, according to the company.
DuckDuckGo said it would send data to the European Commission showing that the auction-based system "inevitably eliminates" its search on Android's selection screen. It was a leading choice at first.
Whether or not the system gives search engines a really fair shot, it still offers more options than it did before Android's antitrust laws. The EU was concerned that Google was using contracts and incentives to deter phone manufacturers from including third-party search options on Android devices. Google battled the decision to favor supposedly proprietary systems over open platforms, but its earlier approach generally left Europeans with phones that only shipped with Google search enabled by default.