Legal News

As Google Grows, So Too Do its Antitrust Issues

By Ashby Jones

“Hire some antitrust lawyers.” If Google’s head lawyer David Drummond hasn’t long ago crossed those four words off his to-do list, he might want to get to it.

The search-engine company’s name keep surfacing in antitrust-related stories. The latest actually involves an antitrust challenge posed to Google rival Microsoft, which will argue against a European Commission proposal that it promote competing browsers in its Windows operating system. Microsoft plans to turn the tables on Google, arguing that such a requirement would only lift Google's dominance in the global search-advertising market. Click here for the story, from the NYT.

According to the NYT, Microsoft will make the argument at a June hearing in Brussels as part of an antitrust inquiry about the packaging of its Internet Explorer browser with Windows. Microsoft will reportedly argue that other search engines, like Mozilla’s Firefox, derives the bulk of its income from fees for driving Web traffic to Google's search engine.

"Not only would Google's browser Chrome suddenly be on all Windows PCs, but it would strengthen Google's dominance in search advertising," said this person. Google, in a statement, did not directly respond to Microsoft's argument, but, through a spokesman in Brussels, stated: "We believe more competition will mean greater innovation on the Web and a better user experience for people everywhere.”

In other Google/antitrust news, the company acknowledged Thursday that the FTC was inquiring about the antitrust implications of the ties between the boards of Google and Apple. But executives said they didn’t believe that the companies’ sharing of two directors - Eric E. Schmidt and Arthur D. Levinson — was problematic. "From my perspective, I don't think Google sees Apple as a primary competitor," said Schmidt. Click here for the NYT story; here for an earlier LB post on the inquiry.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 08, 2009 (boomark / email).