On Tuesday, Brad Smith, senior vice-president and general counsel of Microsoft, told the US Senate committee that chief executive of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang, had told him face-to-face that the recent deal between Yahoo! and Google would squeeze Microsoft out of the market.The deal, which means Google and Yahoo! will collaborate in a joint advertising scheme that will see Google ads displayed beside search results on Yahoo!'s US and Canadian sites, has caused Microsoft to speak out against the two best-loved search engines and claim - quite truthfully - that their coalescing could mean a monopoly over the search advertising sphere.
Smith's recollection of Yahoo! CEO Yang's words regarding the matter will add weight to his argument. Smith told the Senate: "Jerry Yang said, 'Look, the search market today is basically a bi-polar market.
"'On one pole there's Google and on the other pole there's Microsoft and Yahoo competing. If we do this deal, Yahoo will become part of Google's pole, and Microsoft will not be strong enough to remain a pole of its own.'"
It was then quipped by Microsoft's Steve Ballmer that the move would then become a "monopole", playing on the word 'monopoly' because of the resulting 90 per cent market control Google and Yahoo! would then possess.
The issue is a powerful one; US competition laws dictate that firms growing to such an extent that they dominate the market must not use their power in any way that could damage consumer interest. Microsoft has jumped on this issue to help support its bid to fight the recent union, and by claiming that Mr. Yang was in the full knowledge that the deal would form a monopoly that could be damaging.
However, not only did the meeting occur in July, but Yahoo!'s general counsel, Michael Callahan, was also an attendee of the meeting and decided against commenting on "Smith's characterization of Mr. Yang".
The ascending levels of the squabble come as a result not only of the Google-Yahoo! deal but also due to Yahoo!'s continued rejections of Microsoft's takeover bid.
However, when speaking of monopolies, It's hard to forget the seemingly effortless domination of the operating system and internet browser industry by a certain software company in recent years. Is all fair in love and digital wars? Maybe it depends which side you're on.
