Leaving Google's search engine isn't easy, government witness says in antitrust case

abcnews.go.com:

The U.S. Justice Department is pressing ahead with its antitrust case against Google

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department pressed ahead with its antitrust case against Google Wednesday, questioning a former employee of the search engine giant about deals he helped negotiate with phone companies in the 2000s.

Chris Barton, who worked for Google from 2004 to 2011, testified that he made it a priority to negotiate for Google to be the default search engine on mobile devices. In exchange, phone service providers or manufacturers were offered a share of revenue generated when users clicked on ads.

In the biggest antitrust case in a quarter century, the government is arguing that Google has rigged the market in its favor by locking in its search engine as the one users see first on their devices, shutting out competition and smothering innovation.

Google counters that it dominates the internet search market because its product is better than the competition. Even when it holds the default spot on smartphones and other devices, it argues, users can switch to rival search engines with a couple of clicks.

That's not so easy, according to Antonio Rangel, a behavioral economist from the California Institute of Technology who testified for the government. He said Google defaults discourage users from switching to rival search engines. And consumers, he said, are often reluctant to change behaviors that have become ingrained.

Rangel also disputed Google’s contention that switching to a different search engine is easy. He said he acquired an Android 12 phone and studied the process required to replace the Google search engine with Bing; it took 10 steps. “That is considerable choice friction,’’ he said.

He also offered an