Why is the UK asking people to pick a search engine before they pick a browser?

What the CMA proposed in September

On September 23rd the Competition and Markets Authority published updated plans that would require Google to present a choice of search service on new Android devices in the UK. The screen would cover the default search app, the home‑screen search widget and Chrome itself. A major Chrome update would bring the same screen to existing users on other platforms. Providers’ positions would be fully randomised. Users would have to scroll to the bottom before confirming. They could then test drive a search provider for at least a week.

The CMA also recognised that search is changing. Its research found many people already using AI assistants to search alongside traditional engines. Under revised eligibility criteria an AI assistant could qualify if it can search the web and attribute its sources.

Why browser choice belongs first

Mobile browsers are the key gateway to the internet for 56 million people in the UK. Smartphone users spend around half an hour a day in these apps. Opening a browser is the most common way they look up information online. Yet most people use a browser that was preinstalled and set as default without ever being asked. The CMA’s own mobile browser investigation found that preinstallation and prominent placement restrict browser competition. Default settings do the same.

Mozilla’s 2023 experiment showed that properly designed browser choice screens help people choose a browser they expect to keep using. An overwhelming majority of participants, 98%, said they want to see them. The EU Digital Markets Act has since demonstrated their impact in practice.

Asking people to pick a search service inside a browser they never actively chose leaves the biggest issues unaddressed. The CMA’s new research found participants often confused browsers with search services and were unsure what their search choice would change. Mozilla’s research revealed similar confusion. These findings support designing and testing the two screens together with clear explanations of each decision. Developing them together would also avoid separate rounds of changes and interruptions for users.

Order matters. Nobody chooses the furniture before the house. Browsers have their own search defaults. Mozilla recommends showing the browser choice screen first, followed by the search screen, with wording that makes clear these are two separate decisions.

What the EU and Japan already show

The EU’s Digital Markets Act introduced browser choice screens on iOS for the first time and brought browser and search choice together during Android set‑up. Browser first, then search, so the relationship between the two makes sense. In Japan search and browser choice screens are presented on both Android and iOS. People are making use of the browser screen to select alternatives. In May Mozilla reported Firefox is selected through a DMA choice screen once every ten seconds. Retention is five times higher than for organic downloads. Other independent browsers have also reported substantial growth.

What Mozilla is asking for now

AI is changing what browsers offer, adding to the ways they compete on features and privacy. User control is another dimension. Firefox already lets people on desktop pick which AI assistant sits in the sidebar. The Smart Window beta extends that choice to the model behind the browser’s own assistant. When people aren’t offered an active browser choice they may be choosing search and AI services within a browser someone else picked. One decision taken at the factory can end up shaping the ones that follow. Mozilla is asking the CMA to consult now on browser choice screens for Apple’s and Google’s mobile platforms so they can launch alongside the search screens. Apple and Google already offer browser choice screens in the EU and Japan. The CMA can draw on that experience and its own research to give people in the UK an active choice of both browser and search service. How quickly the CMA will act on this request is not stated in the announcement.