Google's Android Search Picks In Europe Are Bad News For Microsoft
Beginning on March 1st, new Android users in Europe will be greeted by something new when opening Chrome for the first time. Instead of simply seeing the Google search bar, they'll be asked to make one of four search providers their default for Chrome. Google today revealed which search engines will appear alongside its own, and each country will have its own selection.
Google is implementing these changes after being hit with a $5 billion fine by the European Commission for antitrust violations concerning Android and Google Search. Last year, Google announced that it would hold an auction for various search engine providers to vie for a spot on this list, with the top three highest bidders making the cut on a per-country basis. Check out the list below for the search engine providers will be surfaced in each country:
Austria: DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.comBelgium: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantBulgaria: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallCroatia: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallCzech Republic: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, SeznamDenmark: DuckDuckGo, Givero, Info.comEstonia: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, YandexFinland: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, YandexFrance: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantGermany: DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.comGreece: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantHungary: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallIceland: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallIreland: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallItaly: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantLatvia: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, YandexLiechtenstein: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantLithuania: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, YandexLuxembourg: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantMalta: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallNetherlands: DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.comNorway: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallPoland: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, YandexPortugal: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantRepublic of Cyprus: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallRomania: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallSlovakia: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, SeznamSlovenia: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallSpain: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, QwantSweden: DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWallUnited Kingdom: Bing, DuckDuckGo, Info.com
The search engine providers vary from country to country, but there are two constants on the list: DuckDuckGo and Info.com, which will both be available in every country. It seems that DuckDuckGo and Info.com viewed this as a good opportunity to grow their userbases, as they likely had to bid high in order to make the list for every country.
According to the terms of Google's auction, providers bid what they would pay on a per-user basis, meaning every time a user selects their search engine over Google, they need to pay up. They won't need to pay the amount they bid, though – instead, the companies that made the list will have to pay the fourth-highest bid that Google received while holding the auction.
Aside from the dominance of DuckDuckGo and Info.com, another thing that sticks out is how little we see Microsoft's Bing on there. Indeed, the only country where Bing will be available as one of the alternatives to Google will be in the UK, as it didn't make the cut for any other country.
It's a little strange to see it so absent from this list, because if there's one search competitor to Google that has money to throw around, it's definitely Microsoft. If it decides later that it wants to get in on this action, it'll have that option – the list that you see above will only be in effect from March 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2020. Google is planning to hold these auctions on a quarterly basis, so we'll see the list change every three months (with the exception of this first group, which will be active for four months).
So, it won't be long before we see this change up, but it's clear from the start that DuckDuckGo and Info.com are more than willing to seize the opportunity here. You can read more about this auction (along with the guidelines Google set for who can bid) over on the official Android website.