• According to a study by Wharton professor Leon Musolff, Google’s dominance in the search engine market is largely driven by default settings and user habits rather than superior quality.
• Interventions like changing default search engines and promoting user exposure to alternatives could help to balance the market and encourage competition.

A study conducted by Leon Musolff, a professor of business economics and public policy at Wharton, challenges the assumption that Google’s dominance is solely due to its superior quality.

The study reveals that user habits and default settings significantly influence Google’s market control. Most users stick with Google as their search engine because it is often set as the default option on devices and browsers, and many do not explore other options.

Musolff and his co-authors found that when users were paid to switch to Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, a significant number did so, and some even chose to stay with Bing after the experiment. This suggests that many users do not give competitors a fair chance.

These findings have important implications for policymakers and antitrust regulators. They highlight the effectiveness of interventions that involve changing the default search engine and promoting exposure to alternatives, suggesting that these could contribute to a more balanced search engine market.

Furthermore, the study’s outcomes extend beyond search engines, touching on broader digital market issues. Tech giants often benefit from consumer habits, default settings, and limited exposure to alternatives, leading to their dominance in various digital platforms. Therefore, the traditional methods of addressing market monopoly, such as breaking up large firms or imposing fines, may not be sufficient. Instead, policies focusing on consumer learning and reducing advantages driven by default settings could be more effective in promoting competition.

Read the Sources of Market Power in Web Search study.