The new Goliath
by Blogie • 5 February 2008
News of Microsoft’s intent to acquire Yahoo! has been all over the Internet lately, and everyone seems to be thinking that the acquisition is a done deal. Maybe so. And what does Google think about it?
In the official Google blog, David Drummond, Corporate Development Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer, voices out a very strong opposition to the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo! deal, which he calls a “hostile bid.” Microsoft is further represented as a blundering, monopoly-mongering and offensive beast. In his post, Drummond recounted the ways in which Microsoft had bullied its way in the 1990s.
Funny. Isn’t this how Google is now rapidly coming to be viewed? As a bully? Déjà-vu.
In the Google blog, Drummond appears to be concerned that the Microsoft-Yahoo! merger will pose a threat to the “underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.” While I will not argue that Google does encourage — some even say ‘inspire’ — Internet users and developers to be innovative, I might take issue with the ‘openness’ bit. The world’s #1 search engine is not exactly forthcoming with its own technology.
For one, nobody outside the Googleplex is privy to the workings of the overly revered PageRank (PR) system. Nobody knows the exact metrics used to determine websites’ PR values. This alone is a ringing example of why Google can’t honestly claim openness as present in their culture and absent in Microsoft’s. Truth is, more and more Netizens are beginning to see the Big G as the next Microsoft.
Below is a quote from TechCrunch, my favorite source of Internet-centric news:
The truth is that Google has become the new Microsoft, and if we want to avoid a repeat of history, we need to allow the formation of a real competitor to keep them honest. Otherwise, all the ills perpetrated on the world by Microsoft in the nineties will likely be repeated again, this time by Google.
Apparently, in the not too distant past, Google liked portraying itself as the David against Microsoft’s Goliath. But today, Google has become Goliath 2.0.
What could be the real reason behind Google’s uncharacteristically strident outcries against Microsoft? It would seem (and I don’t think it’s just me thinking this) that the Big G is feeling the impending crunch of competition. Perhaps the giant search engine hasn’t had enough time yet to fully enjoy its place at the top….
If (and when?) Microsoft takes over Yahoo!, Microsoft will be able to span a huge gap between its current search engine (MSN) usage share and that of Google’s. What’s remarkable is that, even with the combined numbers of MSN and Yahoo!, Google still overshoots them in terms of search engine utilization. Not to mention the latter’s Internet advertising market share.
Still, having a close competitor will prove to cleave a chink in Google’s armor. Hence the Big G’s loud protests over Microsoft’s aggressive bid to acquire the venerable, but sorely defeated, Yahoo!.
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