Microsoft lashes back at Google

Nu-uhhh.

That's a one word summary of Microsoft's statement Sunday rebutting Google's statement earlier in the day that said Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo could raise antitrust concerns.

"The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising," Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith said in a statement. "The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet."

Smith argues that Google already has three-quarters of the paid search market and about two-thirds of U.S. search queries and 85 percent in Europe.

[rofldings]

"Smith argues that Google already has three-quarters of the paid search market and about two-thirds of U.S. search queries and 85 percent in Europe."

Google deserves it, they got to where they are without having to throw money around and buy everything to stay competitive.

[Lord Anubis]

also, they didn't impose their portal on anyone. People were free to use google's search engine or not. Google got to where they are by making their engine off PC parts.

[jacobdevos]

so post it on digg.

[Orange]

Gamers should know what console manufacturers are up to. I make purchasing decisions based on manufacturer ethics. Good for people who won't buy Sony because of rootkits, but I won't buy Microsoft because I don't like their business practices. (fail on quality, then buy up the competition.) Sucks for me, but oh well.

[meepmoopmeep]

I'm always hoping that Google will cripple MS. Google gives while MS takes. A lot of Google stuff are free for us to use as we please, while MS will rape you for every penny the could.

[RecSpec]

Just like courting a girl, Microsoft will try to throw an insane amount of money, while Google has the nice personality.

[chrno6]

As much as it is business, I don't want MS to have monopoly over the search engine. In the future we may have to pay for yahoo LIVE XD. lol I know this won't happen but something might.

[GIJeff]

I HATE that site...its almost as bad as AOL. Google rules because its JUST a search engine at google.com. If you want more google services, you can look for them, but for the most part, its maps n searches.

[Bladestar]

You can't argue against those facts... google is the dominant search engine and online advertising leader... I understand if a grosery store would be complaining about losing business to wallmart... but we are talking about wallmart(google) complaining that two smaller companies to merge in order to survive... even after combining both MSN and Yahoo google is bigger.... why is google even talking? ohh wait I know... They just want to bully Yahoo... and when destroyed do the same with MSN... and after that... the only search engine in the world will be theirs...

Who actually believe that Google is being generious and hoping the best for Yahoo and others? prior to microsoft offers did any of you checked Yahoo stocks? It was only a matter of time before they would be off the market... mmm... I wonder why that would be a great thing for google.

[gonzopia]

Google isn't "bigger". They dominate the majority of searches, but Yahoo owns the news business (more people read news at Yahoo! News than at Google News) and Microsoft alone is worth vastly more than Google.

[Strife Lives]

Bt 2020? Later down the road.

[wageslave]

Definition of "Hostile takeover":
"unwelcome takeover bid: a takeover of a corporation that is viewed as undesirable by existing stockholders, owners, or management"

Being that MSFT offered a very healthy premium over YHOO's current value, and with YHOO in a financial decline, I seriously doutbt this will be viewed by YHOO as "hostile".

This smells of sour grapes on the part of GOOG. GOOG releases this kind of press in order to score FUD points.

But when GOOG bought Double Click (DCLK), MSFT didnt complain that GOOG was becoming a monopoly in search and context aware ads on the internet even though DCLK was the 2nd largest firm to GOOG.

GOOG is crying crocodile tears and showing very sour grapes. Even YHOO + MSFT in the ad / search space is a distant second to GOOG. GOOG is trying to take advantage of latent and irrational anti-MSFT sentiment and spread FUD. Very bad form on GOOG's part.

[Sarick]

No MS knows they have Doubleclick, Hotmail and Passport. They realise that if they also get the search engine they can also intergrate features into windows OS with the search engine. MS wants to unify the Windows OS with the internet completely. You know that index feature intergrated into the OS? They'll link that to their internet search as well.

The next thing about hostle may have truth. Yahoo is down to earth open system run by a group of people. A lot of these investers aren't statis qoe. From my understanding Yahoo supports open source. If MS would take them over a lot of these investers and employees wouldn't be happy about the changes made to MS takeover.

DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT FUD MEANS? Everytime someone provides negative comments about something you immediately stamp the FUD label on it. This isn't FUD because average Joe customers have no business in these dealings. Your acting like everyone fears the search engines. Their not like the console wars where you invest into them. (Unless your selling add space). If I want to search I just type www.google.com, www.search.com, www.ask.com or www.yahoo.com.

Nearly everyone knows the history of MS and their tactics with the OS.

They've stolen code from stacker. They've crushed smaller business that made technology advances. Want to talk about fud why don't you GOOGLE "halloween documents." MS hurt several smalker companies by copying the add on features normally sold as 3rd party products. They in essence added them to the OS so people no longer need these third party products. Defrag, Networking built in, Compression, Anti-virus, Internet surfing and Firewalls. All these features used to be made solely by third parties.

By sticking them in the OS and raising the OS price they literally took the shirts off these companies backs. Forcing them to invest more money in their products to compete with them. Take the netscape Navigater It's now firefox and open source.

Most just went bellyup. The facts are MS has the same effect on the industry as a Walmart store being built by a local Mall. I've seen it happen the small shops go out of business because they just can't compete anymore.

If MS takes over Yahoo it'll do the same thing they did to hotmail put a price tag on it intergrate it into their OS through passport etc and direct traffic to them through their OS monopoly. This would ultimately steer funding away from google and other search engines untill they can no longer compete.

Figure it like this. A casual user logs on the windows OS the default browser is Windows explorer, they load it up and hit search. It'll go directly too MS yahoo and displays adds for their double click. If MS buys out yahoo their search engine will be defaulted from the OS monopoly all the way to the advertisements. That my friend is an effective way to destabilize the internet and gain dominance by steering casual users.

MS will hold the OS casual surfer userbase with the advertisers and become dominate force on the net. Casual PC users go for the b-line making it easy to monopolise the internet using the OS defaults. This is a "hostle" tactic similar to when MS put the IE shortcut on the desktop of windows. It simply directs traffic to them using the OS monopoly as leverage.

It reduces and limits the equal opportunity to the other search engines while directly harming advertisement revenues maintaining these search engines and their advertisers. What will end up happening is advertisers would jump ship for the largest market and likely abandon companies like google.

This isn't FUD it's a reality and MS knows what their doing here. The bid they made has a large agenda behind it IMHO.

[Adamalicious]

It IS viewed by Yahoo as hostile. Microsoft has been trying to buy Yahoo for several years and they have always been flatly denied. Yahoo does not want to be bought by Microsoft, it's that simple. The only way it will happen is a hostile takeover.

[thisguywithhair]

They didn't complain because they knew that it would be brought up when they went and did something like this. A monopoly is also a problem when there are only two companies out there. Especially when they offer very similar products and all that depends on your choice of the product is all up to your personal choices.

[Strife Lives]

Remember the game industry without em? sony had monoplisd it. nintendo had loss after loss and Sonys stranglehold was getting tighter.with competition came choice,came innovation that set the standard.set the bar to benchmark ths gen. Al the whle creating new I.Ps

[Sarick]

A lot of people in the industry hate the fact that everything is so multiple platform. At least in the case the game industry development teams could invest in one console without fear of neglecting that other audience of gamers.

The gaming industry is like the HD format war. A lot of people just want the multiple formats to go away. From a customers standpoint this competition can be good or bad. If it's good it drives prices down and everyone benefits. Companies fight to gain the upper hand innovating and driving the industry forward.

If it's bad it drives prices down and literally harms the industry by creating money losses that slow development and innovation to a halt. If your losing to much revenue fighting a war then you can't invest money you don't have.

Even the industry hates the multiple platforms. They have to develop on more then one console or make a choice to abandon the other. Several stories on N4G have had devs saying "why couldn't there be just one console"

These guys mis the days when SONY had a monopoly. Can you blame them? Now it cost a lot more to develop for.

As for this article I think my statment in comment 4-1 says it all. This takeover could disrupt the internet and harm it by leveraging the OS monopoly and steering revenue away from google and its supporters effectively pulling the shirts off their backs in the process.

Please explain how this is a good thing?

[imageicb]

i love the trash throwing between major corporations.

[caffman]

when yahoo were offered google to buy a few years ago. And turned it down

[GETPWNED]

Just give it up, M$. No one likes you. Everyone likes Google.

[Lord_Ash]

I hope the MS and Yahoo thing never happens, when MS gets a big bite from the market they usually pay it back by biting the consumers in the A$$.

And what’s the deal with the Java Hotmail, it’s been a while but it’s still annoying.

[Pain]

Mabey on paper but M$ buying yahoo then tying it in with whatever new OS they making
plus ther "no we not doing a iphone clone thing' with a Google type clone phone (get that?)
cant be good for competion or quality in the bizz.

And with the fact that MS is kinda trying to get it self in everthing befor in cashes scares me cuz its
turing in to a Royalty company, One wih no real product just fingers in everthing for more money.

thats what i see in this bid.

[Wraith001]

Ive always thought that MS are on a constant march for domination, of any market they go for.Jus about every pc comes with windows, there trying with the Xbox series and now ur gateway on the net. Like a boxer who wants to be the undisputed champion of the world knocking all fighters to the grnd.

This is jus another step in that direction, aswell as joining with BT to bring pre-pay TV content to the 360, couple that with yahoo for the net and there on track to be the 1 stop for ur home life entertainment.

All the while u think u have everything u need and believe u r getting the most, MS is secretly manipulating wot u see and hear as they pls. While stamping on others who may hinder or show something better than wot they have.

Its MS, an ubber corporation, wot do u expect? Money, Control, Domination.

But they have brought some good things onto the mkt, which we wld miss if they werent there, right?

[theoneandonly]

Oh and MS has really done all those things, sure, while its just trying to make money. Yes, its called "ECONOMICS 101". And Sony really hasn't done those same things? Don't make me laugh my ass off.

Sony has been doing the same thing for 10 plus years, its called MAKING MONEY: And now you laughably try to fault Microsoft for doing it? Grow up.

[SUPER360RPGWONDER]

Hey Sony bots, having a monopoly isn't a good thing!!!!

For Sony it was very bad for a while and for MS in the computer market it was as well, now at last there is REAL competition forcing prices to go down and increasing innovation!!!!!!!!!

Don't even bother to praise Google for this move, "GOOGLE" is very bad from a customers point of view!!!!!!! By attempting to have everything be done through Google's search engine, they are KILLING off creativity in the web world!!!!!!!!

Screw Google and screw those who side with them!!!! I mean seriously, its a BAD thing if Google or Yahoo ever merged. Like a corporate breakfast combination from hell.

Microsoft and Yahoo merging is a FAR better option, or someone like Altavista, because then GOOGLE doesn't have so much of the market to themselves anymore and then its GOOD!!!!!!! I love how Microsoft always innovates things, and then Yahoo tries something different, instead of just doing what GOOGLE does and "TAKING OVER" other people's property. DO NOT ENCOURAGE BAD BEHAVIOR!!!!!!!!!!!

[vortteexx]

something happen when you were young, someone dropped you on your head?

Google and yahoo is a much better combination

msn might turn to rubble!

[Orange]

"I love how Microsoft always innovates things" When were you born? Yesterday?

"instead of just doing what GOOGLE does and "TAKING OVER" other people's property." Say what? I don't know which is worse, your grammar or your theory. I think you need some "EDUCATION."

[Sarick]

They copy steal or mimic it then sell it under their own brand. Preferably into other products or services.

Back in dos days MS stole the interface from apple who stole it from xerox.

MS takes ideas people have for products copies them then puts them in their products. These copied features are for products that innovative companies sold as 3rd party products. After those features are copied the attach rate of their products dropped severely. MS took the innovation from 3rd party devs put it in their products then killed off the people who are the true innovators.

I really feel bad for you. You must be very young or missed the early PC years because MS all but crushed companies that designed software to enhance the PC and placed it in their OS taking away revenues.

Seriously how would you feel if your a company that designed a software product that did something no other software did. You couldn't pay the patent office so you release it to the market and less then a half a year later MS comes out. Low and behold your sales drop because they took your idea created a copycat feature inside their OS. Now your product has no basis for customers to buy it because the OS has it.

Your screwed because you simply can't fight MS without going bankrupt.

I believe MS agenda is to incorporate this search engine into the OS so all new OS software would default to it. Given the nature of most average to below average PC users they'd simply go to this search engine and not even know they have a choice.

It's exactly how MS dominated the OS market by giving PC makers discounts for preinstalling windows and dos on new pc's.

Most people aren't even aware there are other OS. Thats how they became #1. You put a product in someones face as default their more likely to ignore other alternatives. This is how defauting works for the average PC user. MS knows the more they interweave producds and services into their OS the less people will notice alternatives. The outcome will generate revenue for themselves by dubiously steering customers towards their search engine and it's products.

[Orange]

"the interface from apple who stole it from xerox."

the funny thing is that xerox should have filed patents on the interface and licensed it to both Apple and Microsoft. I know everyone is anti-patent, but we look back and can basically agree that the interface WAS stolen, which suggests we kinda think they owned it and SHOULD have been granted patents on it.

[jinn]

we have bill gates enough said

[nickfr]

I don't want my searches to be owned by a company which has been sued many times for illegal behavior. My searches are private or business owned. I earn my money through search engines outsmarting anyone, with latest information, or best information.
MS owning Yahoo would jeopardize my privacy and my business life.
MS is doing this for money, and I don't want my privacy and business to be harmed by profit ambitions of MS.
Stay with your evil "office', the rest (Vista, XP, X360) we can get rid off, MS. But never ever try to enter my life or my business, other than that f***** office suit you once invented (really invented? or should I try to find prove that you stole it)....

[thisguywithhair]

This is exactly like when Disney bought Pixar. MS (like Disney) hasn't done anything worth while in a long time so they want to buy something that is doing good so that they can say that THEY are in fact doing good business.