If you want to change your default search engine on iOS or Android, it’s really quite easy،
The US v. Google antitrust lawsuit reveals more information every day about the inner workings and agreements between the Alphabet subsidiary and other companies that allowed Google Search to remain the default search engine on some devices, websites and platforms. Just yesterday we learned from
Google CEO Sundar Pichai that the company had proposed to Apple to preload Google Search on iOS.
While Pichai was on the stand yesterday, he said Google was using the search revenue sharing program as an incentive to help
android phone manufacturers such as
Samsung, HTC and Motorola promote their devices and maintain them over time. When the judge asked Pichai how that worked, the executive said some revenue-sharing payments made to Android makers depend on some of their devices receiving the latest Android security updates. Pichai added that for some of its manufacturing partners, “more effort goes into developing the next version, and updates are expensive…so sometimes they compromise.”
Some manufacturers don’t release security updates every month to their Android phones, which at first glance makes it seem like Google is employing gangland tactics to push out security updates more often. But wait a second. Where is the harm to the consumer? Anything that keeps their phones maintained and up to date is actually positive for device owners. And Google foots the bill, not you or me.
Changing the default search engine on iOS is a snap
The deal
Google made with Apple, which would pay the latter $18 billion a year to be the default search engine on Apple devices, was renegotiated in 2016. Pichai said this was due to the desire to Apple to increase its share of Google search. revenue generated on Apple products. Pichai added: “We wanted to make sure that when we look at a long-term deal, the concept of default is preserved consistently.”
Google was concerned about Apple and Amazon partnering to offer a shopping search on Apple devices that would send the user directly to the online retailer. Pichai said in his testimony that Google and Apple ultimately wanted a deal done, and it did.
Whether it’s understood by most users or not, they are not locked into Google Search and we can understand that for those who aren’t tech-savvy, changing their phone’s default search engine might seem like a hassle. arduous task. Many people won’t bother changing this setting and for many who don’t, it’s because Google Search gives them everything they need in a search engine.
For those who want to change their iPhone’s default search engine, head over to Settings > Safari. Under the SEARCH heading, tap Search engine and you will have the option to choose between Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia.
On Android, open the Chrome app and tap the three-button icon in the upper right corner. Tap Settings and under the Basics heading you will see a Search Engine heading with Google underneath. Tap it and a menu appears offering exactly the same alternative search engine choices offered by the iPhone.
Friends, that’s all you need to do to change your phone’s default search engine. It wasn’t too difficult, was it? Is it so difficult that the government feels obligated to force Google to be broken up into small pieces? Sure, making huge payments to companies in order to get the default choice seems unseemly, but no one ever said there was room for niceties in this business.
If you’re worried about being tracked by Google, no one says you can’t switch to DuckDuckGo. And we have explained how to make this change in this article. If you’re worried about Google Search on your Mac or PC, ironically there is a tool that will show you how to change the default search engine on these devices. It’s called Google.
