Our view: Cornering a market and keeping it cornered are two fundamentally different things: the former occurs because of a product’s superior quality but the latter occurs because of a producer’s superior lobbying.
In the ongoing Google antitrust trial, experts have claimed that Google’s default search engine settings may be influencing user choices, potentially impacting the entire tech industry. One expert witness, behavioral economist Antonio Rangel from Caltech, testified that manipulating users’ default settings can significantly sway their choices. Rangel stressed that default settings create a strong bias, making users more likely to stick with the default option, in this case, Google’s search engine.
Google’s legal team countered, arguing that users choose Google because of its quality, not just because it’s the default option. They presented internal documents indicating that even when other search engines were set as default on some devices, most users still preferred Google.
The trial also revealed that Google has been making substantial payments, exceeding $10 billion annually, to secure its dominant position in the search market. These payments went to various companies, such as smartphone manufacturers and browser operators, ensuring that Google remains the default search engine. This trial’s outcome could have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry, potentially reshaping the landscape of digital competition.
