Swiss regulators have opened a formal investigation into Google after the company removed its Android search-engine choice screen in Switzerland, a medianama.com headline circulated via Google News confirmed this week.

The probe is the second active front in a widening European squeeze on Google's default-search arrangements. It lands six years after the European Commission hit Google with a €4.34 billion antitrust fine over the very same Android bundling mechanism. That 2018 ruling forced Google to license its Play Store and Google Search on Android under non-discriminatory terms and to surface a choice screen presenting rival search engines to new device users.

The Swiss probe turns on what changed, not what the screen is. The medianama.com report, distributed through Google News, does not name the filing date, the Swiss authority, or Google's response. Only the headline-level fact — Switzerland probes Google after the Android search choice screen was removed — is verified.

What do we actually know?

Confirmed: a Swiss competition authority has formally engaged Google over the choice-screen removal.

Not confirmed by the source: the regulator's identity, the legal basis (Switzerland's 1995 Cartel Act is the most plausible vehicle, but the report does not say so), Google's public response, and the timing of the removal itself. SERP Journal has reached out to both COMCO and Google for comment.

Why does the choice screen matter?

Regulators have repeatedly challenged the mechanism since 2018. The European Commission opened a non-compliance probe against Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in March 2024, examining whether Google adequately diluted self-preferencing on Android. The Commission's preliminary findings, published in March 2025, alleged the company had not done enough.

Switzerland sits outside the DMA's jurisdiction but runs parallel antitrust cases through COMCO. Past actions have hit Swisscom, Zurich Insurance, and price-fixing cartels in the construction and elevator markets. The pattern: Swiss enforcers often follow the EU's investigative lead rather than wait for Brussels to finish.

For Google, default placement on Android drives an estimated 90% general-search market share across most Western European jurisdictions, per StatCounter figures the Commission cited in its 2018 decision. A Swiss probe, even one without a DMA-style "gatekeeper" finding, can still end in remedies under the 1995 Cartel Act, with fines capped at 10% of group turnover in Switzerland for the relevant product market.

Who feels the impact?

Search engines that depend on default placement on Android — DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Qwant and Bing most prominently — gain a regulatory ally in Bern. Google's Gemini and the company's own vertical products don't depend on the same channel. Site owners see no direct change unless a remedy forces Android reconfiguration, which could shift a percentage point or two of European query share among providers, with mobile-first publishers the most exposed.

What to monitor next

Three watchpoints. First, COMCO's official press release naming the case file and the legal provision cited. Second, Google's formal response, typically filed within 30 days of a competition authority's statement of objections. Third, whether the Swiss probe consolidates with the Commission's DMA findings — unlikely on jurisdictional grounds but possible on factual overlap if COMCO waits for Brussels to land.

The medianama.com report, distributed via Google News on the day of filing, carried no regulator quote and no Google comment. SERP Journal will update this story on confirmation.