Several search engine providers have asked Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Competition, to meet to discuss Google’s bidding process for Android devices. They describe the pay-to-play search engine selection menu as poor. The signatories are DuckDuckGo from the USA, Ecosia from Germany, Qwant and Lilo from France and Seznam from the Czech Republic.

“As you probably know, we are extremely dissatisfied with the so-called solution measure that Google has created to address the negative effects of its anti-competitive behavior in the Android case, “says the letter that heise online is available.

Google has introduced an auction procedure after being punished by the EU Commission for exploiting its dominant position by preferring its own search engine on Android devices. The search engine providers have to bid for a place in the selection of the standard search engine every quarter. How high the prices are is not known. Microsoft’s Bing had recently prevailed against DuckDuckGo in many countries.

The Americans had already criticized that Google was only strengthening its dominant market with this approach Position. The selection on Android devices is limited to three search engines – in addition to Google itself. In addition, the other providers pay for the starting place, but not Google itself.

Google should also be on Sitting at the table Google should also come to the meeting called for by the search engine providers, it is said, in order to “introduce an effective search engine selection menu”. It is believed that the Commission is not giving the “complete and correct information” from Google. Respective officers could prepare an agenda in advance to ensure a productive meeting. “We wholeheartedly support the Commission’s efforts to tackle Google’s entrenched barriers to competition.” Now is the time to put this into practice.

Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll says that Google has become one of the largest monopolists in human history over the past ten years: “Since the cartel fine EU imposed 2018 on Google ignores the giant