Europe’s Android Ruling Gives Google Rivals a Glimmer of Hope

Believe it or not, there are still would-be Google challengers in Europe. One of them is Qwant, a French startup that says its search engine doesn’t track users or filter search results. Earlier this year, when Chief Executive Officer Eric Leandri pitched phone makers on shipping their devices with his search engine installed on them, “the answer at that time was ‘zero chances,’ ” he says. Following a swell of interest this summer, he’s been working on a deal to install Qwant on one big brand, which he declined to name, that turned him down in March. “Something has changed,” Leandri says.

That something is the European Union’s antitrust landscape. The EU’s $5 billion July ruling against Google’s Android operating system also demanded changes to reduce the company’s self-promotion on Android devices, and it’s giving beleaguered rival search engines and web browsers a rare chance to compete. They aren’t getting their hopes up too much, of course. Google parent Alphabet Inc. has said it would appeal the ruling before an Oct. 10 deadline. It has been so dominant for so long that hardly anyone is left in Europe to mount a credible offensive. Still, this is the best chance that potential competitors have had in many years. Google didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story.