Google and Microsoft are in a public feud

Google and Microsoft are in a public feud

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Microsoft (MSFT) targeted Google’s dominance in advertising, as it described in Congressional testimony as the technology industry contributed to the erosion of local journalism.

“The problems that plague journalism today are caused in part by a fundamental lack of competition in the Google-controlled ad search and technology markets,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in his written testimony to the antitrust subcommittee. of the Chamber.

The worldwide network as we know it may be running out

“That does not mean making a statement about whether Google has acted illegally,” continued Smith. “But, as we learned firsthand from Microsoft’s own experience two decades ago, when a company’s success creates side effects that negatively affect the market and our society, the problem should not be ignored. And that usually requires government action. “

Before the hearing, Google (GOOGL) attacked with a blog post accusing Microsoft of making “selfish claims” and returning to an aggressive and anti-Google manual.
“This latest attack marks a return to Microsoft’s longstanding practices,” wrote Google’s senior vice president of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, in a blog post “And it’s no coincidence that Microsoft’s new interest in attacking us come in the wake of the SolarWinds attack and the moment they allowed tens of thousands of their customers … to be actively hacked through Microsoft’s big vulnerabilities, so it might not be surprising to see them dusting off the old fun Scroogled manual. “
In recent weeks, Microsoft and Google have taken opposing positions in an Australian law that requires technology giants to negotiate revenue shares with news publishers. Where Google threatened to leave Australia, Microsoft happily supported the legislation, saying its Bing search engine would fill the gap.

The concerns that gave rise to Australian law are now echoing around the world, including in the halls of Congress.

On Friday, Microsoft endorsed a project led by Congressman David Cicilline that would give news publishers an antitrust waiver so they could collectively negotiate revenues against tech giants.

Microsoft itself would likely be subject to the law, Smith noted, but said the technology industry has an obligation to do more to support quality journalism.

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