After taking a hefty fine from the EU, Google was also forced to open up Android's search engine and include other options for users to pick from. They went about it in a very weird way by offering up a paid auction, but regardless, those results are in. Here's what users in other countries will be able to choose from in different countries around the world while setting up their Android phones.
The biggest winner here was DuckDuckGo, who managed to secure a place on the ballot in every single country that this auction was required in. There's a twist here, though, so don't conflate this with DuckDuckGo necessarily being the most popular search engine; since this was done auction style, Google charged these companies money to land this spot.
Conversely, Bing only managed to snag a spot in the UK and nowhere else. Again, this isn't because Bing isn't popular (although let's be real, it's not exactly pulling in tons of users) but because Microsoft didn't shell out the money to get on the list. There could be a ton of reasons for that, but apparently Microsoft isn't worried about trying to work their way onto people's phones as a search engine.
Beginning in March 2020, any new Android devices set up in Europe will be shown an option of what default search engine users would like to use. Google and DuckDuckGo will be consistent, but the other places will vary a little bit. Strange times.
via: Android Central
