Switzerland Opens Competition Probe into Google’s Vanishing Android Choice Screen
COMCO says the search selection prompt was pulled from Swiss phones while it kept running across the European Economic Area.
July 14, 2026 – 10:57 am
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Switzerland’s Competition Commission opened a preliminary investigation into Google on Tuesday, after the search engine selection prompt that Android owners elsewhere in Europe still meet when they switch on a new handset quietly stopped appearing on Swiss phones.
The feature, known as the Choice Screen, asks users which search engine they want as their default during the initial set-up of a new device. COMCO says Google recently removed it in Switzerland while leaving it running in the European Economic Area.
The practical consequence is that Swiss buyers now get Google Search as their default without being asked.
“This new practice by Google could affect the ability of search engine providers and, more broadly, other digital service providers to compete,” the authority said in a statement.
It added that the change “creates an unequal treatment between Swiss users and those in the European Economic Area.”
Google confirmed it was aware of the case.
“We look forward to cooperating fully with the authority to address their questions,” a spokesperson said.
The company has not published a rationale for withdrawing the screen in Switzerland.
The Investigation
The instrument being used here is worth being precise about. A preliminary investigation, the Vorabklärung, is the lightest tool the Swiss competition secretariat has. It carries no charge, no deadline, and no presumption of wrongdoing. Its only job is to establish whether there are indications of an unlawful restriction of competition under the Cartel Act.
If there are, a full investigation can follow, and that is the stage at which remedies and fines become possible.
What Makes the Case Interesting
What makes the case interesting is the reasoning behind it. Default settings, COMCO argues, play a decisive role in digital markets, and the choice screen exists precisely to soften the foreclosure effect that defaults produce. Remove it, and rival engines lose visibility at the single moment a user is most likely to reconsider. That, in the regulator’s framing, raises the barrier to entry.
In its statement, the commission put it less gently: “Removing the feature could limit the visibility of search engines competing with Google during device set-up, thereby raising barriers to market entry.”
The Size of the Prize
The size of the prize is not in dispute. Google holds roughly 82% of Swiss search, according to web analytics firm Statcounter, a share that leaves the choice screen looking less like a meaningful marketplace and more like a formality.
Rivals do move when the conditions shift, though. DuckDuckGo installs jumped 18% after Google reshaped its results page around AI summaries, which suggests the appetite for an alternative is there when users are given a reason to look for one.
The choice screen is a European artefact, and that is the key point.