Deal 'could hurt innovation'
Wednesday, 16, Jul 2008 10:36
Microsoft has claimed that a deal between search engines Google and Yahoo! could lead to higher prices for promoters and fewer choices for those looking to market themselves online.
Microsoft's senior vice-president and general counsel Brad Smith added privacy could also be put at risk and the result could damage online marketing and hurt innovation by giving Google potentially 90 per cent of all search advertisements..
Speaking to the American Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust and the House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force, Mr Smith also questioned the legality of the move.
He commented that it would enable Google to own "the gateway to information".
"Never before in the history of advertising has one company been in the position to control prices on up to 90 percent of advertising in a single medium," Mr Smith remarked.
Under the agreement, Google advertisements would appear next to some Yahoo! results in the US and Canada.
Hitwise, an internet monitoring company, has revealed that 87 per cent of all searches made during June in the UK were carried out through Google - a ten per cent increase on the previous year.
