Current:Home > FinanceMicrosoft CEO says unfair practices by Google led to its dominance as a search engine-LoTradeCoin
Microsoft CEO says unfair practices by Google led to its dominance as a search engine
View Date:2024-12-23 18:35:00
WASHINGTON (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Monday that unfair tactics used by Google led to its dominance as a search engine, tactics that in turn have thwarted his company’s rival program, Bing.
Nadella testified in packed Washington, D.C., courtroom as part of the government’s landmark antitrust trial against Google’s parent company, Alphabet. The Justice Department alleges Google has abused the dominance of its ubiquitous search engine to throttle competition and innovation at the expense of consumers, allegations that echo a similar case brought against Microsoft in the late 1990s.
Nadella said Google’s dominance was due to agreements that made it the default browser on smartphones and computers. He downplayed the idea that artificial intelligence or more niche search engines like Amazon or social media sites have meaningfully changed the market in which Microsoft competes with Google.
Nadella said users fundamentally don’t have much choice in switching out of default web browsers on cell phones and computers.
“We are one of the alternatives but we’re not the default,” he said.
Nadella was called to the witness stand as the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in the past quarter-century moved into its fourth week of testimony before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who isn’t expected to issue a decision in the case until next year.
The Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google centers on deals the company struck with Apple and other device makers to use Google’s search engine.
In the 1990s, Microsoft faced accusations it set up its Windows software in ways that walled off applications made by other tech companies, just as Google is now facing accusations of shelling out billions of dollars each year to lock in its search engine as the go-to place for finding online information on smartphones and web browsers.
In an ironic twist, the constraints and distractions posed by the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft helped provide a springboard for Google to turn its search engine into a dominant force. By the time Microsoft started its scramble to develop its own search engine, Google had already become synonymous with looking things up on the internet.
But Microsoft nevertheless has poured billions of dollars trying to mount a serious challenge to Google with Bing and, at one point, even tried to buy Yahoo for more than $40 billion in a bid that was rejected while Steve Ballmer was still the software maker’s CEO.
Nadella, who was working at Microsoft during the late 1990s antitrust showdown with the Justice Department, succeeded Ballmer as CEO in 2014. During his tenure, he has steered to Microsoft huge gains in personal and cloud computing that have boosted the company’s stock price by nearly nine -fold since he took over while creating more than $2 trillion in shareholder wealth.
Despite all that success, he hasn’t been able to make any significant inroads in search against Google, with Bing still a distant second in the market.
veryGood! (564)
Related
- Burt Bacharach, composer of classic songs, will have papers donated to Library of Congress
- J.Crew Outlet Quietly Drops Their Black Friday Deals - Save Up to 70% off Everything, Styles Start at $12
- Dick Van Dyke says he 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency
- 'Treacherous conditions' in NYC: Firefighters battling record number of brush fires
- NFL Week 10 injury report: Live updates on active, inactive players for Sunday's games
- Traveling to Las Vegas? Here Are the Best Black Friday Hotel Deals
- What Just Happened to the Idea of Progress?
- What is best start in NBA history? Five teams ahead of Cavaliers' 13-0 record
- Knicks Player Ogugua Anunoby Nearly Crashes Into Anne Hathaway and Her Son During NBA Game
- Beyoncé has released lots of new products. Here's a Beyhive gift guide for the holidays
Ranking
- Why the US celebrates Veterans Day and how the holiday has changed over time
- Who will save Florida athletics? Gators need fixing, and it doesn't stop at Billy Napier
- Florida man’s US charges upgraded to killing his estranged wife in Spain
- Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
- The Bachelorette's Desiree Hartsock Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Siegfried
- Channing Tatum Drops Shirtless Selfie After Zoë Kravitz Breakup
- Manhattan rooftop fire sends plumes of dark smoke into skyline
- Judge hears case over Montana rule blocking trans residents from changing sex on birth certificate
Recommendation
-
Tampa Bay Rays' Wander Franco arrested again in Dominican Republic, according to reports
-
Gold is suddenly not so glittery after Trump’s White House victory
-
'Dangerous and unsanitary' conditions at Georgia jail violate Constitution, feds say
-
In bizarro world, Tennessee plays better defense, and Georgia's Kirby Smart comes unglued
-
What do nails have to say about your health? Experts answer your FAQs.
-
Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn Coming Out of Retirement at 40
-
The Fate of Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager's Today Fourth Hour Revealed
-
Businesses at struggling corner where George Floyd was killed sue Minneapolis