The Google Choice Screen is deliberately ineffective

Statement from Thomas Vinje, counsel and spokesperson for FairSearch

1 September 2021

Google has not implemented an effective remedy in the three years since the Commission’s Android infringement decision, allowing it to consolidate its illegal gains and continue to profit from them, at the expense of competitors and ultimately consumers.  While Google’s most recent changes appear to take a small step in the right direction, Google knows their choice screen remains ineffective.

For example, the choice screen is displayed only during initial device setup, so Google will continue to reap the benefits of its illegal conduct on tens of millions of existing devices.  In other words, Google’s announcement for the search choice screen applies to new users only.

The tens of millions of existing users Google acquired by illegal conduct would continue to suffer without true choice, gaining nothing. Google will again continue to profit from conduct the Commission found to be unlawful.

There also continues to be no choice screen for browsers, allowing Google to continue a proven infringement.  This is extremely unfortunate and harmful to competition and consumers.

We want the Commission to pursue non-compliance proceedings against Google for failure to follow the Commission’s Android decision, as it did in the face of Microsoft’s non-compliance some years ago. Only when the Commission pursued such proceedings against Microsoft did that company comply with the Commission’s decision, and sadly that appears to be the case with Google as well.

Google does as little as possible to give an appearance of compliance without actually doing anything effective to comply with antitrust law or even existing decisions against it.

ENDS