A better search engine still needs people to try it. In October 2023, Satya Nadella testified that Google’s default-search agreements helped reinforce its position. A government trial exhibit cites his testimony. He was explaining the market from Microsoft’s position as a rival.
The operating loop made sense to me: more searches can improve results and attract advertisers; advertising revenue can then pay for distribution. A competitor has to win users while the incumbent earns money from their existing habits.
That does not establish that every weakness in Bing came from Google’s contracts. Product quality and user preference still matter. But a default gives one service the first chance to answer a query without asking the user to make a choice.
I would judge changes to that system by whether users can try alternatives easily and whether those alternatives keep the users who try them. Microsoft can fund a search engine. It cannot buy genuine preference with a courtroom argument.