Coronavirus has stunted Google's new Android choice screen, which lets European users to pick a different default search engine

REUTERS/Brandon Wade/File Photo

Google CEO Sundar Pichai in October 2019.

• Coronavirus has stunted the rollout of Google's promised "choice screen" for Android users in Europe, which would have given rival search engines a boost on the continent.
• Google was fined nearly $5 billion by the EU's competition watchdog in 2018, and promised to give users the option of choosing a different default search engine on their Android phones.
• The new screen allows Android owners to choose an alternative default search engine during setup - but only on phones sold since March 1.
• But rival search engine providers, including privacy-oriented DuckDuckGo, say they haven't seen the benefit thanks to tanking phone sales.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Coronavirus has stunted the rollout of Google's new "choice screen" for Android users in Europe, much to the frustration of its search engine rivals.

The EU slapped Google with a $5 billion fine for anti-competitive behavior in 2018, saying it had abused its dominant Android mobile operating system to cement the popularity of Google apps and services.

In response, Google held an auction for competing search providers, including Microsoft's Bing and privacy-focused DuckDuckGo. The winners were offered space on a new Android choice screen, which allows users to pick an alternative default search engine during setup. The screen only shows for Android customers within Europe, and different markets will see different search engine options.

The initiative was supposed to level the playing field, providing Google's biggest rivals on the content with a new way of accessing millions of customers.

But the tech giant had specified the rollout would only apply for three months, with a fresh round of bidding taking place for space on the choice screen every quarter.

Since then, smartphone sales have collapsed around the world thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, with shipments falling 38% in February - the biggest fall ever recorded - according to data from market research firm Strategy Analytics.

Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, which was set to feature on the choice screen in all 31 EEA territories, told Business Insider the firm had seen "very little traffic" from it.

Weinberg's company, like other winners such as Info.com and Yandex, pays Google a fixed fee each time a user chooses them as their default search engine.

Unlike many search providers, DuckDuckGo emphasizes user privacy and shows all users the same results for queries rather than personalizing based on collected data.

Washington Post via Getty Images

DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said he had been left 'disappointed'

"I think we're probably going to get shut out," said Weinberg. "We don't profit from data the way some do, so it's not really sustainable for us to keep paying."

Describing the auction process as "fundamentally flawed", he added: "In most cases, wherever you go, we are second only to Google in terms of preferences.

"And when you ask, 'Why?' It's because they want a search engine that values privacy. We thought we should take part if we had the opportunity...[but] it has been disappointing"

A spokesman for Info.com, which also won access to all 31 EAA countries, said there had yet to be "any material movement" on the choice screen rollout.

"COVID-19 has impacted mobile phone supply chain and retail sales and so far there doesn't appear to be any material movement on the Android choice screen," they said.

Google advocates have pointed out that it could not have predicted a global pandemic when it hosted its auction several months ago, adding that winners aren't losing any money from the choice screen delay.

"They only pay when a user chooses them as their default so, while it's not ideal, they're not losing anything," said one senior Google employee, who asked to be quoted anonymously to avoid inflaming tensions with relevant businesses.

Business Insider approached search engines Givero, GMX, PrivacyWall, Qwant, Seznam and Yandex for comment.

Google and Bing declined to comment.

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