Google and Yahoo Defend Advertising Alliance
Date : 17 Jul 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkTheir arguments, made on Tuesday, were countered by Microsoft officials who argued that the partnership would allow Google and Yahoo to dominate more than 90 percent of the search advertising market and could significantly raise prices.
"I never felt so sorry for poor little old Microsoft," said Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to laughter.
In a statement, Bradford Smith, senior vice president and general counsel of Microsoft, said: "If search is the gateway to the Internet, and most believe that it is, this deal will put Google in a position to own that gateway and the information that flows through it. When Yahoo talks about this deal generating up to $800 million in additional revenue, that's money out of the pockets of American businesses, big and small, who will pay higher prices for the very same ads they buy from Yahoo today."
Earlier in the morning, Smith testified under oath about a meeting on June 8 with Yahoo's chief executive, Jerry Yang, in San Jose, California.
"Jerry Yang looked across the table, looked us in the eye and said: 'Look, the search market today is basically a bipolar market. On one pole there's Google, and on the other pole there is Yahoo and Microsoft both competing with Google,'" Smith said.
"He said, 'If we do this deal with Google, Yahoo will become part of Google's pole.' And Microsoft, he said, would not be strong enough in this market to remain a pole of its own," Smith continued.
Michael Callahan, executive vice president and general counsel for Yahoo, said, "I am not going to...