The move by the world's most popular internet search engine
comes as the 27-country bloc considers rules that could be introduced next year
to force Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook to ensure a level playing field for
competitors.
Google's Android mobile operating system runs on about
four-fifths of the world's smartphones. The U.S. tech giant said in 2019 that
rivals would have to pay via an auction for appearing on a choice screen on new
Android devices in Europe from which users select their preferred search
engine.
Google's change of heart followed a 4.24 billion euro ($5.16
billion) fine handed out by the European Commission, the EU antitrust
authority, in 2018 for unfairly using Android to cement the dominance of its
search engine.
"We are now making some final changes to the Choice
Screen including making participation free for eligible search providers. We
will also be increasing the number of search providers shown on the
screen," Google director Oliver Bethell wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.
The changes will come into effect in September, the blog
added.
The Commission said it had discussed possible changes with
Google following concerns raised by a number of its rivals, adding that those
announced were positive developments.
Google said the five most popular eligible search engines in
each EU country according to StatCounter, including Google, would be displayed
in random order at the top of the screen while up to seven will be shown at the
bottom.
It had previously only allowed four competitors, chosen in
separate auctions for each EU country, to be displayed on Android screens.
However DuckDuckGo, a rival search engine that has long
complained about the auction process, said Google should go further.
"Google is now doing what it should have done three
years ago: a free search preference menu on Android in the EU," CEO
Gabriel Weinberg tweeted.
"However, it should be on all platforms, eg also
desktop Chrome, accessible at all times, ie not just on factory reset, and in
all countries."
Search engine Ecosia, which together with four other rivals
complained about Google's initial proposal to the Commission last year,
welcomed the changes.
"With this, we have something that resembles a level
playing field in the market," its CEO Christian Kroll said in a statement.
"Search providers now have a chance to compete more
fairly in the Android market, based on the appeal of their product, rather than
being shut out by monopolistic behaviour."
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