Google will soon encourage users of Android devices in Europe to use additional Internet browsers and search engines. This rather unusual process is Google's reaction to a billion-dollar antitrust fine in 2018.
Android users will see an overview of alternatives to Google's own products after the next mobile OS update, according to a blog post by Google manager Paul Gennai. The overview will be displayed the first time you open the Play Store after installing the update.
According to Google's information, five search engines and five other vendors' browsers are displayed, distributed over two Playstore menu windows. In Google's blog post offers such as Qwant and DuckDuckGo as well as Microsoft Edge and Opera can be seen. Already installed services are also displayed, in the example screen these are the Google search and the Google Chrome browser.
Android is the market leader
The five offers are - apart from the already installed services - displayed in random order, it is: In the selection would be the most popular offers. Users who install one of the search apps should also be asked if they want to make the service their default search engine in Google's Chrome browser. According to Google, users can play as many of the presented apps as they want.
The reworking required the EU Commission. She condemned the Google parent company Alphabet in July to a record penalty of 4.3 billion euros due to inadmissible regulations for the use of the operating system Android. The software is by far the market leader in mobile operating systems, with eight of the world's top 10 mobile phones. In second place is Apple's iOS.