Learn about the process of changing search engines. Check out the obstacles.
Imagine having the same box of cereal in your cart every time you go to the supermarket.
It turns out that this cereal is so popular that it comes in your grocery cart right away. If you don't like it, you can easily put it back on the shelf and buy another box.
Essentially, this is Google's defense against the U.S. Department of Justice in a landmark antitrust case (the first federal antitrust case of the modern Internet era). The government accuses Google of illegally collaborating with mobile device makers, computer makers, and browser developers to limit competitors in online search.
Standard service
As part of these partnerships, Google made its search engine the default service on most consumer electronics products, including smartphones, the Justice Department alleges. That prevented people from trying alternative services like Bing, DuckDuckGo and others from Microsoft.
But Google insisted that it would be as easy for people to switch search engines as it would be to put a box of cereal back on a store shelf. This process raises the question of how and why we use Google Search. Many of us grew up using Google Search because it seemed to give us the best results with the least amount of effort. But Google is already installed on most devices, so who knows if something better will come along? Even if we did, Google would still be set as the default search engine.
Continue using or not?
Experts decided to test how difficult it is to switch to another search engine. In a blog post this month, Google said the switch was a simple process and gave three examples.
The company said that in the iPhone cell phone It only requires 4 taps to change. On Android smartphones, you need to tap twice. But when tested, the process was not so simple. In short: changing is difficult, and most people will probably give up before even making the change.
For iPhone
According to the Google company, iPhone owners can switch to a different search engine with just four taps by opening the Settings app, tapping Safari, then tapping Search Engine and selecting an alternative search engine.
It’s actually more complicated. Safari doesn’t immediately appear on the screen when you open Settings. It’s hidden beneath 36 other menu items, so users have to swipe up at least twice to find Safari’s settings. In fact, it takes six taps. But even four steps can be too much for many people, especially those who aren’t tech-savvy.
This might have been easy 15 years ago, when web browsing was mostly done on desktop computers, but in the age of smartphones, people looking for this feature might be on the bus, for example. There's a chance they'll be interrupted in the process.
For Android
On Android phones, Google says you’ll need to long-press the search bar to see a “Delete” button. Users can then tap it to remove the Google search bar widget from their home screen. This example is particularly flawed. First, Google’s instructions for removing the search bar widget work on some Samsung phones, but not all Android devices. For example, when users long-press the search bar on Google’s Pixel smartphones, they don’t see the delete option.
Most importantly, removing the search widget removes the shortcut to the Google search bar on your home screen, but it doesn’t change your browser’s search engine. Switching to a different search engine requires separate steps. Just like on the iPhone, it’s a four-step process that involves opening a browser and changing the settings.
