Google kommer att lägga in nya funktioner i Android, i Europa som kommer ge användarna en möjlighet att välja sökmotorn och också avinstallera delar av de obligatoriska delarna i Android.
Detta är ett led i uppgörelsen med EU och de böter som sökjätten drabbades av efter en omfattande undersökning av Googles affärsmetoder och avtal in om unionen.
Starting next year, Google will offer Android users in the European Union a way to choose from a list of search providers. Once an option is selected during setup from a choice screen, it will become the default search provider across the operating system and apps like Chrome. You’ll also be able to remove the Google search widget, and the company says that configuration will be remembered even after restoring a device.’
Auktion
Valet av standardsökmotor ska sedan avgöras med en auktion.
Google argues it’s all fair and square. The company notes in the FAQ that ”an auction is a fair and objective method to determine whoch search providers are included in the choice screen. It allows search providers to decide what value they place on appearing in the choice screen and to bid accordingly.”
But there are holes in Google’s argument. There is no guarantee that a user won’t switch back to Google after the initial setup. Also search providers have to pay to surface as an option and the choice screen won’t appear on devices like Samsung’s Galaxy line, whoch come with Microsoft’s Bing pre-installed.
