Search engines ask regulators for stricter rules for choice screens

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DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and Qwant are not happy with the browser selection screen on mobile devices that has become the norm for a few years. The search engines are asking regulators and politicians to keep tech companies to stricter rules.

The companies behind the three search engines do that in an open letter on the browser selection screen. They do not refer specifically to the selection screen that Google has implemented in Android since 2020, but to the recently adopted Digital Markets Act of the European Union. It also includes rules about ‘digital gatekeepers’. Search engines DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and Qwant are calling on international regulators and politicians to make rules that better regulate the browser selection screens of such gatekeepers. They specifically mention ten principles that a selection screen should comply with. They also believe that it should be easier to change the default search engine in an operating system. The companies now find that too difficult.

For example, it should be free to participate in a selection screen. Google previously allowed search engines to participate in auctions to get a place in the search engine selection screen, but stopped doing so last year. The search engines also believe that selection screens should always be visible as an obvious setting and not just when setting up the device, and it should be actively shown to users on a regular basis. The search engines also want a choice to be implemented more broadly. If a user chooses a particular search engine on one device, it should also change on other devices and in search widgets, for example. Also, there should be no technical obstacles to removing a default search engine and app, such as a browser.

The search engine companies are calling on policy makers worldwide to apply the rules they propose. They praise the European Union because several of their proposals are already included in the DMA. “The effectiveness of the EU mandate and regulatory powers worldwide depends on how gatekeepers implement these rules to comply with these new rules.” They believe that gatekeepers will not fully comply with all the rules until regulators make clear how they will enforce the rules.

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