Regulators have suggested new measures to reduce Google’s dominance among search engines. 

The ACCC’s third Digital Platform Services Inquiry interim report calls for the introduction of a choice screen that provides consumers with a selection of search engines. 

The competition regulator has been looking at Google dominance in local markets, finding that it currently accounts for 94 per cent of all Australian search engine activity. 

Google Search is the default search engine on the two most popular browsers in Australia, Google’s Chrome browser and Apple’s Safari browser, which are pre-installed on most mobile devices in Australia.

Most consumers tend to stay with their device’s pre-installed browser and pre-set search engine.

“Search engines play a critical role in the digital economy. We are concerned that Google’s dominance and its ability to use its financial resources to fund arrangements to be the default search engine on many devices and other means through which consumers access search, such as browsers, is harming competition and consumers,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims sys.

“Google pays billions of dollars each year for these placements, which illustrates how being the default search engine is extremely valuable to Google’s business model.”

Surveys have found that one in four Australian consumers does not know how to change the default web browser or search engine on their mobile device.

“Access to consumers is critical for search engine services to grow and compete against Google, but Google’s vertical integration and costly commercial arrangements have made this very difficult,” Mr Sims said.

“This is likely to have stifled innovation and reduced consumer choice. It means that consumers may not be exposed to or aware of other options, such as search engines that protect users’ privacy and/or have an ecological focus, which limits the ability of these businesses to grow.”

To address this, the ACCC recommends a range of measures. 

First, it wants the power to develop and implement a mandatory search engine choice screen, which would present consumers with a selection of search engines, rather than having a default search engine set for them.

The ACCC envisages that the choice screen should initially apply to new and existing Android mobile devices and across all search access points on these Android mobile devices.

Google already offers a choice screen for search services on new Android devices in Europe, which it implemented following a decision by the European Commission.

Second, the ACCC also recommends that it be given the power to develop additional measures to improve competition and consumer choice in search. 

This may include potentially restricting dominant search engines from tying or bundling search services with other goods or services, among other measures.

“We are carefully considering these potential measures, which would sit alongside the rules and powers proposed in the ACCC’s Ad Tech Final Report. The framework for these rules and powers will be considered as part of the fifth report of the Digital Platform Services Inquiry. The ACCC intends to commence consultation regarding these potential proposals for broader regulatory reform in 2022,” Mr Sims said.