Google’s Dominance, Default Settings and the Cost to Users

There’s a hidden setting on your phone and web browser that Google desperately wants you to overlook. In 2021 alone, Google paid Apple, Samsung, and other tech giants $26.3 billion to ensure this setting remains buried. This figure surpasses the annual revenue of McDonald’s from selling burgers. We’re talking about your search engine—the function that supplies answers when you type queries into the search bar. Google compensates phone, laptop, and browser manufacturers by defaulting to Google and preventing them from offering other options during device setup. This practice costs billions but secures a favor for Google.

“The biggest price we pay for monopolies is that they limit better ideas in ways we’ll never get to know.”

Most individuals need to consider the search function on their devices and how Google became the default. However, this default arrangement might prompt you to reevaluate not just Google but also your trust in Apple, Samsung, and other corporations that seemingly sold you out. The ability to pull back the curtain on the lucrative business of default settings is thanks to an ongoing antitrust trial against Google in Washington, one of the most significant in decades. The U.S. has accused Google of illegally using payments to phone manufacturers and others to dissuade people from trying alternatives like the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo or Microsoft’s Bing. A verdict is expected early next year.

The Power of Defaults

Tech companies bank on the fact that you must be more relaxed to dig into settings. This reliance is exploited by Google, which uses the “power of defaults,” a behavioral science concept that suggests defaults can nudge people’s choices in a particular direction. Most users need to be more focused or clear to modify these settings. Our apps and devices come loaded with settings that, more often than not, benefit tech companies more than users. Google’s deal with its partners stipulates that Google be made the default, and in some cases, the companies are also barred from actively encouraging users to switch. This is termed adding “friction” to our choices.

Apple and Samsung’s Role

What’s particularly disturbing is that the companies accepting Google’s hefty payouts—like Apple and Samsung—are fully aware of the implications. We entrust these gadget manufacturers to design the best products for us, but they’re not solely working for our benefit. Apple, in particular, which prides itself on its commitment to user privacy, does not offer customers a privacy choice regarding their search engine—it defaults to Google. Samsung, too, has made design decisions that favor Google over user convenience.

Choosing Your Search Engine

Despite the dominance of Google, there are other viable search engine options. For instance, Bing, bolstered by the artificial intelligence tech behind ChatGPT, rewards users for searching. Ecosia uses its ad revenue to plant trees. DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine, does not track your searches and movements, reducing the number of targeted ads that follow you around the web. The choice ought to be yours, and competition should be based on merit rather than financial transactions to secure default settings.