Yesterday Google co-founder Sergey Brin described the Internet doomsday scenario if Microsoft wins its Yahoo takeover bid. How does Google love thee, Microsoft? Let me count the ways:
Internet innovation? At risk. Antitrust laws? Violated. Internet users? Harmed.
"Unnerving" is how Brin described a Microsoft-Yahoo tie-up according to an AP Report.
Speaking after the Google Lunar X Prize event at the Googleplex, Brin emphasized the need for open standards, Internet diversity and an open OS (operating system). Not surprisingly, Microsoft executives committed to a more open platform yesterday, too.
Brin said, "The Internet has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies. And when you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top Web sites, and can be used to manipulate stuff in various ways. I think that's unnerving."
Brin's statement elaborates on Google's official opposition to the merger, first outlined in an official Google blog post by Chief Legal Officer David Drummond: the threat of Internet portal control and limited access to competing products: E-mail, IM, Web services.
Microsoft has rebutted the Google argument that won't be settled until the Yahoo hostile takeover bid plays out, noting Google has the highest share of searches of any company. The search engine industry question: how long will people care about the lovers' spat between Google and Microsoft?
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