Microsoft Accuses Google of Being a Monopoly

After Microsoft went through their antitrust cases, they have learned a valuable lesson… accusing your competitor of the same thing could lessen their power. “DOJ’s Microsoft Prosecutor: Google is a Monopoly” by David Goldman reports, yesterday Microsoft filed a complaint against Google. The complaint accuses Google of acting as a monopoly, enacting measures to prevent Microsoft from competing fairly.

The article reports some of the “Antitrust” examples Microsoft gave:

“Google has put in place technical measures that restrict Microsoft’s Bing search engine, as well as other search rivals, from ‘properly accessing’ YouTube for their search results… Google uses that otherwise restricted data to index YouTube videos in its own search results… Google’s search results for YouTube videos are better than its competitors’”

“[Google’s] ad platform data lacks interoperability with Microsoft’s”

“…Google undermines its competition by entering into exclusive agreements with websites to power the search boxes on their sites. The company has locked up so much real estate on European’s leading websites that rivals can’t get a foot in the door”

The article includes brief thoughts from critics/experts about each accusation. On the YouTube issue, critics believe it to be a viable accusation. On the position of ad “interoperability”: Microsoft should work on their ability to make Google ad platforms operate but there may be a point about Google also working on it too. On the last point experts from the article pointed out that “Microsoft engages in the same behavior”.

This looks to become an interesting case. Even though Bing is fairly new and emerged when Google had almost mastered their brand, Microsoft believes they should have the same power in the market as Google. The antitrust case seems to be their way to explain the “hindrance” to their success in gaining the search engine market. Regardless of the motivation and ironic position as being a company previously involved in antitrust matters, Microsoft might have a case against Google.