Swiss Regulator Opens Google Android Choice-Screen Probe

Switzerland’s Competition Commission has opened a preliminary investigation into Google after the Android search-engine choice screen stopped appearing on Swiss phones, TNW reported.

The Google Android choice screen Switzerland probe centers on a set-up prompt that still appears for new Android devices in the European Economic Area.

The Choice Screen asks users to select a default search engine during initial device set-up.

Switzerland’s competition authority indicated that Google recently removed the prompt in Switzerland while keeping it active inside the EEA.

COMCO Reviews Google Search Defaults On Swiss Android Phones

The regulator warned that Google’s new practice could affect the ability of search-engine providers and other digital-service providers to compete.

It also flagged unequal treatment between Swiss users and those in the EEA.

Google confirmed that it was aware of the case and that it would cooperate with the authority, according to TNW.

No rationale for withdrawing the screen in Switzerland has been published.

Preliminary Investigation Carries No Charge Or Deadline

The Swiss procedure is a preliminary investigation, or Vorabklärung.

TNW described it as the lightest tool available to the Swiss competition secretariat.

The process carries no charge, no deadline and no presumption of wrongdoing.

At this stage, the secretariat is checking whether the Android change points to a possible unlawful competition restriction under the Cartel Act.

A full investigation can follow only if that initial review finds enough indicators.

Remedies and fines become possible at that later stage.

Default Settings Are Central To The Regulator’s Concern

In COMCO’s view, removing the feature could limit the visibility of search engines competing with Google during device set-up and could raise barriers to market entry.

The authority further noted that its findings could affect how default settings are assessed on other mobile devices.

Statcounter listed Google at roughly 82% of Swiss search, according to TNW.

The outlet also cited an earlier DuckDuckGo example in which installs jumped 18% after Google reshaped its results page around AI summaries.

Switzerland Sits Outside EU Android And DMA Rules

The choice screen comes from European competition pressure on Android.

TNW noted that Google exhausted its appeals against a €4.1bn EU Android fine and that the Digital Markets Act now gives gatekeepers obligations inside the EU.

Switzerland is outside the EEA and the DMA does not apply there.

The Swiss case therefore depends on cartel-law analysis rather than the EU’s gatekeeper rulebook.

Separately, the EU has prepared measures on Google Android and rival AI assistants, and it has set out search-data sharing measures for competing engines, according to TNW.

Those EU measures are not part of the Swiss procedure.

No timetable has been set for the preliminary investigation, and Google has not published why it removed the choice screen in Switzerland.