Google Doesn't Want MSN As Default Search Engine In IE7

New York Times reports that Google talked with the Justice Department and the European Commission about Microsoft's decision to put MSN Search as default search engine in Internet Explorer 7. "The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services," said Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google. "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."

And it's not difficult to choose. Internet Explorer 7 lets you add another search engines easily and if you visit google.com with IE 7, Google will ask you if you want to choose Google as default search engine.

"The typical default when users install IE7 on their Windows XP machines will most likely be their usual search engine." claims IE Blog.

Firefox, Opera and Safari use Google as default search engine and don't include MSN Search as an option. Most Google software (Google Toolbar, GTalk, Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Video Player) has a default option in the setup to set Google as default search provider. While the battle for Windows XP was won by Google, the battle for Windows Vista seems fierce.

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