Having said that, I accept that's from a privileged "I know how to change my default" point of view. A better realistic approach would be choice screens with revenue sharing (NOT pay to play!).

I do like the API-based search approach as a higher ideal to aim for though. Seems fairer with more control in the hands of users, but the pessimist in me thinks that's a long shot. Unless a new type of browser/search engine can rise like a phoenix to shake up the monopoly…

Choice screens with revshare are the simpler version, but they would need to be built with standardised filtering (e.g. privacy labels for each choice). They also give undue benefits to whoever has the biggest marketing budget. The API version is really not that much more work!