DuckDuckGo founder says Google's phone and manufacturing partnerships thwart competition

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Appearing in the biggest antitrust trial in a quarter century, DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg testified Thursday that it was hard for his small search engine company to compete with Google because the powerhouse has deals with phone companies and equipment manufacturers to make its product the default search option on so many devices. DuckDuckGo still sells ads, but bases them on what people are asking its search engine in the moment, a technique known as “contextual advertising.” That focus on privacy helped the company attract more users after the Edward Snowden saga raised awareness about the pervasiveness of online surveillance. Under questioning earlier, Eric Lehman, a former Google software engineer, seemed to question one of the Justice Department’s key arguments: that Google's dominance is entrenched because of the massive amount of data it collects from user clicks, which the company in turn leverages to improve future searches faster than competitors can. In a 2018 email produced in court, Lehman wrote that Google rivals such as Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, China’s Baidu, Russia’s Yandex or even startups could use machine learning to improve internet searches and challenge Google’s lead in the industry.