Get your wallet out Google, we want to try something new

#313: US wants Google to pay people to try rival search tools, court hears, as the search giant begins ripping up its exclusive default deals...

The judge in the Google break-up is weighing up a wild proposal to pay billions of web users to try alternative search engines - and to force Google to foot the bill.

Ivy league researchers from Stanford, MIT and Penn ran a secret study to test whether people would pivot from Google if they saw other options.

Testers were paid $10 to try Bing, and researchers followed them to see how many returned to Google. Most did, but 22 per cent stayed with Microsoft’s search engine.

The study caught the attention of the many US States who are supporting the Department of Justice break-up of the $350 billion monopoly.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who’s leading the US States, has now asked the judge to make Google pay to inform consumers of other search options via “short-term incentive payments”.

It’s now one of the many remedies being considered by Judge Amit Mehta - and Google would be made to pay for it all.

There’s a lot more from court today, including Google starting to tear up some of its exclusive deals, a pricetag for Chrome and more, so don’t miss out.

And welcome to new subs overnight from Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the UK’s leading travel magazine Wanderlust, Yahoo in France, Australian AI-powered martech Tau, fellow Aussies at global consumer insights team Azira, US political consultants Gmmb… and event managers Evissio in Kingswood, UK, about three miles from where I went to school! Want me to speak on hometurf?

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Now back to the trial ‘cos it might be time for a whip-round…