YAHOO, GOOGLE TALKING DEAL ?

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Yahoo, Google talking deal?
MICROSOFT BID SPARKS PARTNERSHIP CHATTER

By Elise Ackerman
Mercury News
Article Launched: 02/04/2008 01:30:39 AM PST


Just hours after Microsoft announced its $44.6 billion unfriendly bid for his company, Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang sent a confidential e-mail to employees knocking down rumors that it was a done deal, and said Microsoft's proposal was "one of many options that we're evaluating."

One of those options is reportedly a business arrangement with Google. Wall Street analysts have been calling for Yahoo to outsource its search-advertising business to Google, which makes more money for each ad it sells than Yahoo.

Google publicly weighed in on the bid Sunday. While not commenting on possible business ties with Yahoo, David Drummond, Google's chief lawyer, said Microsoft's offer raises troubling questions, including whether the combined companies would exert the same "inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that (Microsoft) did with the PC."

"This is about more than simply a financial transaction," Drummond wrote on the Official Google Blog. "It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation."

In his e-mail, Yang noted that the process was in its early stages. "We want to emphasize that absolutely no decisions have been made - and, despite what some people have tried to suggest, there's certainly no integration process under way. This proposal is just that - a proposal. And it was only made in the last 24 hours," Yang wrote.



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Microsoft quickly responded to Google with a statement from its top lawyer, Brad Smith: "The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising," Smith said.

"The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet."

According to comScore, Google currently handles 58 percent of all Internet searches in the United States, while Microsoft and Yahoo together handle 33 percent. Smith said Google's share is even greater in Europe, where he said it handles 85 percent of searches compared to 10 percent for Microsoft and Yahoo.

"Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation and the protection of privacy on the Internet," Smith said. "We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals."

But in his blog post, Drummond noted that Microsoft and Yahoo together provide the majority of Internet users with e-mail and instant messaging services and urged policy makers to examine whether that would amount to too much influence over the Internet.

Microsoft and Google have increasingly used antitrust law as a competitive weapon against each other, requesting the support of regulators in the United States, Europe and around the world. Last year, Microsoft joined public interest groups in calling for antitrust scrutiny of Google's $3.1 billion bid to acquire DoubleClick.

Meanwhile, in 2006, Google complained to U.S. regulators that the default search settings on Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7 browser put Google at a disadvantage.

Antitrust regulators have so far appeared reluctant to crack down on Google. In December the U.S. Federal Trade Commission voted 4-1 to allow the DoubleClick deal to proceed, though two commissioners expressed concerns about its potential effect on privacy and competition. A decision by the European Commission is expected by April 2.

In contrast, both European and U.S. regulators have been much tougher on Microsoft. Most famously the Justice Department waged a long battle with Microsoft over allegations the software maker abused its operating system monopoly to restrict the market for Web browsers; Microsoft settled that case.

More recently Microsoft has faced a series of probes from European regulators, again over antitrust issues.


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Contact Elise Ackerman at eackerman@mercurynews.com or (408) 271-3774.

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