Called “Presearch”, users can access the search engine on their desktop and mobile devices, irrespective of their location.
The decision to add Presearch as a default option comes after Google’s announcement earlier this year to increase the number of default search options on Android in an effort to appease the European Commission. In fact, the Commission had fined Google over 4 billion euro back in 2018 for allegedly using Android to gain an unfair advantage in the search market.
While Google initially required search engines to pay to reserve a default option slot, the company has since done away with the prerequisite. The move will now the top five popular search engines in each European Union country will be displayed at the top of the Android choice screen, followed by an additional seven search engines.
Presearch was founded in 2017 and has 2.2 million registered users today, with an average of 1.3 million daily searches. The private engine’s search volume has grown 300% since January this year.
[3 minute read]
