DuckDuckGo, Info.com Top Bids In Google’s European Auction For Alternative Search Engine
DuckDuckGo, Info.com Top Bids In Google’s European Auction For Alternative Search Engine
The search engine alternatives in each market were determined by a bidding process.
Two search engines, the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo based in Pennsylvania, along with Info.com, a relatively unknown engine based in California that secures a place in every European country, becomes an option in 31 markets.
Microsoft Bing secured only one spot in the United Kingdom. Its shares that spot with DuckDuckGo and Info.com. Other search engines that secure spots include Yandex, PrivacyWall, Qwant, and Seznam.
A spreadsheet lists all European Union countries separately, with the winners alongside each. For example, in Austria, Android users will have an option for DuckDuckGo, GMX and Info.com.
The new options follow a $5 billion fine from European Union competition regulators in 2018 that found Google had used its mobile operating system to suppress rivals.
The options will be in effect from March 1 through June 30, at which time the bidding process will restart. “An auction is a fair and objective method to determine which search providers are included in the choice screen,” Google wrote in a blog post. “It allows search providers to decide what value they place on appearing in the choice screen and to bid accordingly.”
The choice screen will appear during initial device setup and will feature multiple search providers, including Google.
The company said it will send a monthly invoice to search providers and will charge only when the provider is selected by the user.
The monthly invoice will indicate how many selections came via the choice screen per country, and the total amount owed to Google.
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