I never thought I'd have to defend Google, but the steps to change the default search engine for your browser seem perfectly appropriate. This "open letter" comes across as DDG uncovering some Google conspiracy or exposing a dark pattern, but I don't think this is the case.
DDG is a private company seeking profits, just like Google. I'm a happy customer of DDG but empty marketing like this isn't going to move anyone. It feels like one company complaining about it's competitor. You don't see ProtonMail complaining that Gmail comes pre-installed on the OS.
There's plenty of other reasons to criticize Google, changing default settings doesn't seem to be a hill to die on.
DDG is a private company seeking profits, just like Google. I'm a happy customer of DDG but empty marketing like this isn't going to move anyone. It feels like one company complaining about it's competitor. You don't see ProtonMail complaining that Gmail comes pre-installed on the OS.
There's plenty of other reasons to criticize Google, changing default settings doesn't seem to be a hill to die on.