Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has officially become the third browser vendor -- siding with Mozilla and Opera -- to join a European Union antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and its Internet Explorer browser. The case asserts that Microsoft is killing competition by tying its browser to its Windows operating system. According to Microsoft, the EU is threatening the company with "a significant fine."
A blog written by Sundar Pichai, a vice president for product management at Google, explains Google's concern over the lack of competition in the browser market:
"Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft's dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers."
That's right. Yet again, Google is complaining that Microsoft is stifling competition.
It sounds like, perhaps, some introductions are in order: Pot, this is Kettle; Kettle, meet Pot. Now. Could you two possibly stop suing each other?
This isn't the first time Google and Microsoft have engaged in battle -- legal, gladiatorial, and otherwise.
Google, as we well know, lobbied against Microsoft's attempt at acquiring Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) last year, calling it a threat to competition in an area it dominates.
Microsoft, too, lobbied against Google's acquisition of DoubleClick and its attempt at an ad partnership with Yahoo -- which subsequently fell through.
Now Google is getting on board to complain that Microsoft holds too much market share, a stance that just sounds ever-so hypocritical in light of Google's stranglehold on search and advertising. In fact, back in April 2008, when you were first born, Internet Evolution readers voted Google the greatest Internet monopoly, with Microsoft coming in a distant second.
Further, while it is the case that Microsoft does tie its browser to its software package, it's also true that its share of the browser market has fallen from 80 percent to 68 percent over the past two years, suggesting that competition is working, and that this might be an inopportune moment to cry "antitrust."
In an interview with Internet Evolution earlier this year, Internet Explorer platform architect Chris Wilson suggested that the "Browser War" of yesteryear was, essentially, history.
"In the first round it was somewhat understandable why some people considered it a browser war: There were two clear competitors and one of them wanted to win," said Wilson. "I don't think of it that way anymore because we actually work together a lot better than we did in the past."
Turns out it might be time to buff up the old armor, yet again.
? Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution
No comments:
Post a Comment