Sep 30, 2020 12:33:00

DuckDuckGo, which was removed from the menu at Google's search engine auction, points out that it 'has a fundamental flaw'

As a measure against EU antitrust laws, Google holds a quarterly 'search engine auction' to decide what to display as an alternative search engine for Android. For a long time,

DuckDuckGo has been used as an alternative search engine, but Microsoft's Bing 'wins' at the auction in the fourth quarter of 2020, and DuckDuckGo has been removed from the menus of most countries. In this regard, DuckDuckGo claims on its official blog that there is a fundamental flaw in the search engine auction mechanism itself.

As Predicted, Google's Search Preference Menu Eliminates DuckDuckGo
https://spreadprivacy.com/search-preference-menu-duckduckgo-elimination/

According to DuckDuckGo, if the Android search settings menu is properly designed, Google's share of Google search in the mobile search market can quickly drop by about 20%, but Google has properly designed the Android search settings menu. It is said that it has not been designed. It seems that one of the causes of improper design is 'search engine auction'.

What DuckDuckGo is concerned about is that the auction is 'a format in which only the highest bidders enter the menu.' Search engines that can expect profits by being selected by users can afford to bid at a higher price, but 'search engines that can expect profits by being used' do not protect privacy and contain many advertisements. DuckDuckGo points out that it is something like that.

In fact, DuckDuckGo has been steadily profitable since 2014, but instead of 'abusing users to maximize profits,' it focuses on privacy efforts and a 'clean search experience.' Therefore, profits are slightly suppressed. For this reason, the amount that can be bid is smaller than that of the company that maximizes profits, and it is not possible to win the auction.

In response to this situation, DuckDuckGo will randomly display the search engine with the largest market share other than Google as an alternative at the beginning of the search screen instead of an auction, and the remaining alternatives will be scrolled and displayed. He argued that this would create competition and would be an excellent remedy. The current method was created by Google to benefit Google and is calling on the European Commission to eliminate DuckDuckGo.

Regarding the monopoly of the search engine market by Google, the development team of the browser Cliqz, which emphasizes privacy and has its own search engine, also claims to be dangerous .