A few months before the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), search engine competitors of the giants plead for ” fair choice screens especially on smartphones.
In 2023, the long-awaited Digital Markets Act will come into force, which will act as digital markets legislation in the European Union, with the aim of making the digital sector both fairer and more competitive. Among the major points of DMA, we find the end of the practice of imposing, by default, a particular web browser or search engine, the principle being that the end user must have a choice. Qwant, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia have just published a public letter in which they alert the European legislator to the correct application of the text.
Additional recommendations, in the face of a text that the giants may find it difficult to fully apply
The letter offers a list of recommendations for an effective implementation of the DMA, which is due to come into effect in early 2023. The implementation of these recommendations will allow (Internet users) to choose their browser and their search engine from their first search. “, explains the boss of Qwant Corinne Lejbowicz, “ and will give them the opportunity to change easily and regularly “, she adds, with the desire to go even further, by proposing that this freedom of choice can be applied to all Web services.
While the DMA plans to mandate tools that will give end-users true freedom of choice, the digital giants’ “smaller” competitors believe that the real effectiveness of EU mandates and related regulatory efforts across the globe will actually depend on how (not to say willing) gatekeepers implement these changes.
It should be remembered that access controllers are the platforms that must respect, under penalty of sanction, the obligations set by the Digital Markets Act. The behemoths Google, Microsoft and Apple, since we are talking about browsers and search engines, are obviously concerned.
A checklist of principles for rolling out equitable preference menus and transparent switching mechanisms
Qwant, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia suggest that European regulators enforce ten essential principles for choice screens fair on smartphones, as well as efficient mechanisms to switch from one browser to another, from one search engine to another.
The ten principles mentioned:
- Free in the change of preference menu or other mechanism.
- Available as Main Setting: Preference menus should be available whenever a user wants to change. Thus, this possibility would not be limited to the moment of initialization of the device.
- Presented regularly to users: Here, the preference menus would be regularly presented to users, for example during each update of the operating system. Here too, Qwant, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia suggest going beyond the only choice offered when initializing the device.
- Effective across access points controlled by access controllers: the choice made by the user must apply to all access points controlled by the ” gatekeeper “. For instance, ” for a search engine preference menu on a smartphone, the user should be able to choose all the predefined search entry points, in one go, such as home screen search widget, search widgets search helpers, default browser, default assistant, etc. “, we are told.
- No technical preference granted to an application: the access controller cannot grant itself or a search engine a “system” status which would prevent any uninstallation. And when deleting a default browser or search engine, the preference menu should be able to display.
- Enable one-time default switching of all other vendors’ apps and websites: all in one click, via a competitor’s app or website. Similarly, if the application provides both services (both search engine and browser), the user should be able to change the default settings for both.
- Transparent user testing for user-centric design: Competitors should have the ability to test designs, to facilitate clear user choice and avoid unfair attempts to steer their different choices.
- Functional eligibility criteria: having both a search engine and a browser should not prevent a digital player from appearing on browser preference menus.
- Choices expected by the user: in the list of options on the preference menus, the most popular choices should be displayed randomly.
- Transparent dashboards for participants: “ data on the effectiveness of preference menus should be made available to participants on a daily basis via a self-service dashboard where companies can see how many impressions (= views) and selections have taken place , and more “.
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