Can Browser Choice Screens Be Effective?
Mozilla conducted a large-scale experiment showing that well-designed browser choice screens can improve competition without burdening users. They found that people prefer to choose their default browser during device set-up and want a wider range of browser options.
Overview
Innovative new research from Mozilla shows that design is critical
Browser choice screens are back on the menu. Most notably, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) will require them from 2024. But lawmakers and regulators in many other jurisdictions have also been looking at choice screens alongside other interventions to address deep-seated competition issues in browsers and browser engines (explored in more detail in our 2022 ‘Five Walled Gardens’ report).
Mozilla’s 25 year history has seen multiple previous attempts to restore competition in browsers fall short. The DMA now has great potential to change this record. It represents a unique opportunity to improve competition and fairness for consumers — and we are committed to making sure it delivers the goals that it sets out to achieve.
However, there has been relatively little focus on the effectiveness of browser competition remedies to date. Only a handful of operating systems have the ability to test different types of browser interventions on their platforms and there is little or no public data or research into this. Thankfully, this is beginning to change.
In order to contribute to the understanding and progress in this area, we have conducted an innovative, large-scale experiment on the factors that influence the effectiveness of one such intervention – browser choice screens. Our research involved 12,000 people in Germany, Spain and Poland setting up a highly realistic virtual Windows or Android device. By varying the design, content and timing of browser choice screens, we were able to see how these factors influence consumer choice.
