Why we're saying no to Google
Sorry, but this really is the best way to go about this. What's the alternative?<p>1. Random list of all search engines - most of which may be far worse/less advanced/more evil (read: poor & desperate) than Google.<p>2. Hand picked list by Google? If you want neutrality, then you are joking... Right?<p>3. 'Independent' committee who decide every so often - I'm not against this, but who's going to fund this? I can guess the two main companies in a whim (cough: Google, Microsoft). This is basically a less-transparent auction.<p>4. Auction-based. You call it 'selling off to the highest bidder', I call it allocation of limited resources - let's call this what it is, an advert.<p>5. Android switches to a paid model, Google completely closes off the platform and charges carriers directly for their services.<p>I really do like what Ecosia is doing but consider this:<p>1. Google is not cutting off your ability to download Ecosia - there are still dozens of search engines in the Play Store.<p>2. Ecosia benefits from Google Play infrastructure without having to contribute back because it's free for developers. Obviously Google benefits from having mindshare/user base, but there's still a lot of value for developers that Apple charges far more for.<p>I think Google should have given Android users a choice long ago, but I don't believe it's completely fair to call this auction move 'evil'.<p>What else could they do?