The CEOs of three rival search engines, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and Qwant, have written an open letter(opens in new tab) expressing fear that Big Tech corporations would find ways to circumvent new restrictions aimed to weaken their grip on critical industries.
Choosing a search engine or browser to look for information should be a personal choice.
In an open letter published on July 5, 2022, the three search engine CEOs announced ten guidelines to help internet consumers effectively change their preferred search engine.
The letter, signed by DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg, Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll, and Qwant President Corinne Lejbowicz, argues for a list of ten “common-sense” principles to improve online user experience.
They recommended that regulators make it clear so that their enforcement abides by the ten key principles listed below for fair choice screens and efficient switching mechanisms.
- Free of charge
- Available as a prominent setting
- Periodically presented to users
- Effective across gatekeeper-controlled access points
- No technical preference is given to an app
- Enable all at once default switching from apps and websites to other providers
- Transparent user testing to achieve user and centric design
Functional eligibility criteria - User expected choices
- Transparent dashboards for participants
A Google spokesperson has since provided us with the following statement:
“We have long offered more choice and flexibility than other mobile platforms. We continue to explore new ways to ensure consumers can choose the products and services they want to use and welcome views from other companies.”