Google will give Android users choice of browser and search engine in Europe

Google has announced it will start asking European Android users which browser and search engine they would prefer to use on their devices, following regulatory action against the company over the way it bundles software into its system. mobile operation. Google was fined a record $5 billion by EU regulators last year for breaching antitrust laws and ordered to stop ‘unlawfully tying’ Chrome and its search app to Android.

Google’s initial response was to start charging manufacturers licensing fees for the Play Store and other apps while offering the option to include Chrome and the Google Search app in the overall package for free. Now Vice President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said in a blog postGoogle will go one step further by offering users of “existing and new Android devices in Europe” a direct choice of services.

“On Android phones, you’ve always been able to install any search engine or browser you want, regardless of what came pre-installed on the phone when you bought it,” says Walker. “In fact, a typical Android phone user will typically install around 50 additional apps on their phone…Now we’ll also be doing more to ensure Android phone owners are aware of the wide selection of browsers and search engines available at download to their phone. Phone (s.”

Google didn’t say when that will happen beyond “over the next few months,” or which competing products will be highlighted. The move will draw inevitable comparison to Microsoft’s “browser voting” web page it showed Internet Explorer users in 2010 to comply with a similar decision by the European Commission. Microsoft took down the page in 2014 after its obligation expired.