Microsoft Corp. wants Alphabet’s Google to be penalized by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for restricting competition in the Internet search sector. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified Monday (Oct. 2) during Google’s antitrust trial in Washington that the premise that customers have the option to alter search engine preferences is “false.”
The Department of Justice and attorneys general of 38 US states have accused Google of engaging in monopolistic business tactics to retain its massive search traffic. They claim that Google pays at least $10 billion each year to smartphone makers, competing web browser producers, and mobile network operators to make its search engine the default choice. Alphabet has denied any wrongdoing, but Nadella believes Google’s 91.6% global market share makes it “a tough game to make headway in.”
Google defends itself by claiming that it has made it easier for users to change search engine defaults on smartphones and PCs. Google lawyer John Schmidtlein told the Justice Department in April that “offering a superior product and winning business on the merits is never illegal.”
However, Nadella refutes such claims, pointing out that Microsoft’s attempts to make its Bing search engine the default on all Apple devices have failed. Bing controls only 3% of global search engine traffic.
Microsoft is frustrated that a planned deal with Apple collapsed earlier this year, despite offering better terms than Google and acknowledging that making Bing the default would cost billions of dollars. Apple reached a new $15 billion deal with Google in February, which could grow to $19 billion by the end of the year. A deal to sell Bing to Apple also failed in 2020. Additionally, you can also read about Google’s antitrust case: Is the search giant too big to fail? [Latest Updates]
End of the truce, resumption of the war
Since the conclusion of their five-year non-aggression contract in 2021, Google and Microsoft have been embroiled in a market fight, agreeing not to use their powerful lobbying against each other’s businesses. Since then, Microsoft has focused on fighting for fair access to search engines, while Google sees those efforts as a reflection of Microsoft’s view of Google as a threat to its products. Google accused Microsoft of anti-cloud computing actions in March, accusing it of establishing partnerships with several European cloud service providers that violated its licensing rules.
The fierce rivalry between the two titans has sparked extensive regulatory scrutiny from antitrust authorities. This approach is expected to change when Judge Amit Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rules on the current case next year.
While Microsoft would like to see Google punished in court, its $10 billion investment in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and that chatbot’s integration with Bing would do little to unseat Google as the world’s most favored search option. .
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn