Earlier this year, Google announced it was going to present EU Android users with a search engine choice dialog. Today the company revealed more details.
Next year, we’ll introduce a new way for Android users to select a search provider to power a search box on their home screen and as the default in Chrome (if installed). Search providers can apply to be part of the new choice screen, which will appear when someone is setting up a new Android smartphone or tablet in Europe.
So far so good, but then Google goes on to detail how a search provider can add itself to the list. Other than Google itself, only three other possible choices will be listed in each individual EU member state. Google will conduct a closed auction in each member state, wherein search provider can bid by stating how much they are willing to pay per user who selects them. Search providers will have to pay a fee for each user that selects them.
Google will send a monthly invoice to search providers and charge only when the provider is selected by the user. Your monthly invoice will indicate how many selections came via the choice screen per country and the total amount owed to Google.
In other words, the bigger and richer the search provider, the more likely it will be featured. This rules out smaller companies and open source search engines, who simply won’t be able to compete with the bigger players. In addition, all the auction details – how many providers partake, their bids, and so on – will all remain secret.
I wonder if this will satisfy the European Commission, and I’m certainly no lawyer in any way, shape, or form, but merely going by gut, having search providers pay Google secret amounts of money in secret auctions somehow does not seem what the EC is after.
I’m not sure what Google is trying to do here; creating irrefutable proof that they’re a monopoly?
I very much hope that the EU finds any vaguely plausible excuse (I don’t care what it is or even if its technically legal) to fine Google billions of $$ just for considering this bullshit.
Considering how much the US are using any vaguely plausible excuse to fine EU companies billions of $$, it would only balance things a little bit. But that won’t happen, because “the EU don’t do that to friends”. How long the US will screw the world for defending their “America first/way of life” interests ?
Google is an Irish company. It’s inside the EU. If you don’t believe me, look at their tax reports. They can’t have it both ways. Either they are an US company, they pay their taxes there and benefit from whatever trading deal the US can negociate or they pretend to be an Irish company so they don’t pay any tax anywhere. In the later case they are an EU company, They play by EU rules and shouldn’t raise any concern to the US.
I don’t know why that’s a bad thing. Last time i checked we still had capitalism and mozilla (among others) was earning a shitload of money from deals with different search engines having them enabled by default.
What would be so bad for EU commission? The closed auction?
They literally chose the next EC president from a similar closed auction, big deal.
Nice comparison for the EC president, it’s clearly a good analogy, and it says a lot of our “democracies”…
EU commission is all bark, no bite.
Look at the Whatsapp acquisition by Facebook. FB told the EU it was technically impossible to merge the user datasets. Everybody called the bluff. Except EU, which then gave out a marginal fine afterwards.
Politicians are still lobbied, politicians are still bought. Especially on EU level where they send the folks that aren’t usable anymore on national level. They get their EU commission job for a golden retirement. Guess who pays for it? The “evil, evil U.S. digitial monopolies” that “destroy European innovation” are among them.
All bark, no bite.
Look! The browser ballot–excuse me, search ballot–is back and this time you have to pay to play! Great job, EU!