The SEARCH Act Copies Europe’s Homework—and Its Mistakes
Some in Congress want to make online search more competitive by deciding in advance how search competition should work.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) introduced the Securing Enforcement of Americans’ Right to Competition at Home (SEARCH) Act earlier this month. Billed as a bipartisan effort to protect consumers and curb Big Tech’s power over online search, the proposal would write into federal law many of the sweeping remedies sought in recent monopolization cases against Google.
The SEARCH Act would bar Google and other search engines from paying browsers and operating-system providers for default placement. It would require browsers and devices to present users with a “choice screen,” force search engines to provide rivals with data and search results at marginal cost, and restrict technology acquisitions and joint ventures more aggressively than current antitrust law does.
Protecting competition is a worthy goal. The bill’s economics are much shakier. By replacing the United States’ traditional focus on consumer welfare with European-style ex ante market design, the SEARCH Act would likely raise costs, weaken incentives to innovate, and give federal enforcers broad power to favor some firms over others.