Android users can soon select their default search engine during device setup

To comply with the European Commission’s decision on Android, Google today announced that it will allow Android users in Europe to select their default search engine to power the home screen search box and Chrome browser during device setup process. The effect of a user selecting a search provider from the choice screen will be to

• set the search provider in a home screen search box to the selected provider
• set the default search provider in Chrome (if installed) to the selected provider
• install the search app of the selected provider (if not already installed)

If you are a search engine, you can now apply to participate in this program. If there are more than three search providers who want to get listed in the choice screen, Google will conduct an auction.

Auction details:

Google will use a first-price sealed-bid auction to select the other general search providers that appear in the choice screen. Google will conduct auctions on a per-country basis for the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Following the initial round of auctions, any subsequent rounds will occur once per year.

In each country auction, search providers will state the price that they are willing to pay each time a user selects them from the choice screen in the given country. Each country will have a minimum bid threshold. The three highest bidders that meet or exceed the bid threshold for a given country will appear in the choice screen for that country.

This new choice screen will be displayed to new Android phones in Europe in early 2020.

Source: Google