Hmmmm ... currently FF 92.0 ... I've not seen anything changed re: search default.

Deja-vu, I don't think preferences have ever been respected. Example:

- In Firefox "about:preferences#search" remove all search engines except DDG and set that to be the default search engine
- Next go to "about:support" and scroll down to the section named "add ons" and you will find this...

Amazon.co.uk extension1.9 true amazon@search.mozilla.org
Bingextension 1.3 true bing@search.mozilla.org
DuckDuckGo extension1.1 true ddg@search.mozilla.org
eBay extension1.3 true ebay@search.mozilla.org
Google extension1.1 true google@search.mozilla.org
Wikipedia (en) extension1.1 true wikipedia@search.mozilla.org

The word "true" in each of those entries refers to their enabled status. You can't turn them off no matter what you've done in preferences nor do they show up on your addons list but there they are, enabled.

Now when you install an addon yourself it is added to that list and when you disable it the word changes from true to false as you'd expect, but not for the companies above. It makes you wonder if they all get the query but, until now, only your preference responded. I would not be surprised if your preference is disrespected further at this point. They know best right?

If anyone finds a way to set them to false in the about:support add ons section please share.

Interesting, I've never investigated that closely.

I'm happy that when I select a default it stays that way, although, this news is about a limited test.

Interesting, I've never investigated that closely.

I don't think anyone has.

If users were meant to be allowed to disable those they wouldn't show up as active after being disabled in preferences. If users weren't meant to be able to disable them someone overlooked that page. I would dig further but someone would take offense regardless of what was found so I'm sure it's just a glitch.

This news was about a limited test but it's testing something that has other issues(including privacy) already. I'd recommend fixing those first.

I wonder how many users will NOT notice their unancounced default search engine change has happened.

Running 92.00 here, no change. I understand it wasn't applied to everyone as it's a study.

But... changing things this way without information, consent, etc, (unless it happened on those specific cases), doesn't sound like something I would like.

I'm using FF 92.0.01 and no change here.

BUT, I have DDG as my default SE, AND I also have added > search bar in toolbar, and have a bunch of SEs installed via Mycroft Project, that I generally use for search and research.

Only use the address bar for quick searches.

Remember, this is a test, which may mean the default search which comes with FF may change.
Currently, the default search is Google.
It may not mean a change to customised search already set. We don't know this at this stage, and one of the alternative search engines [webmasterworld.com] out there could be tested, including Bing, or even set and the new default.

I prefer to search for what I need and finding it on the first page.
I'm not interested in having someone else serve me 20 pages of the rubbish they think I need.

Until there are some drastic changes, I'll keep DDG as the default and delete all of the rest.

The report was not what search engine, only that some instances of FF 92x upgrades have CHANGED whatever you selected. As for deleting all the rest, that's pretty difficult to do (embedded in about:config). Meanwhile, you can change your default search at any time under tools/settings and that will hold until the next upgrade. :)