Google logs on to Yahoo fray to thwart MSN deal

New York: Online search giant Google has come out openly against Microsoft's $45-billion takeover bid for Yahoo, terming the deal as a threat to openness of the Internet.
Google's Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice-President (Corporate Development) David Drummond said in a statement that "openness of the Internet is what made Google — and Yahoo! — possible."
But, Microsoft's Yahoo bid raises 'troubling questions' in relation to the preservance of openness and innovation — two underlying principles of the Internet, Drummond said in a statement posted on the official blog of Google.
Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reported that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has called on Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in an effort to thwart Microsoft's bid.
Drummond said Microsoft had often tried to establish proprietary monopolies and questioning whether it would seek to exert same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC.
Reacting to it, Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith said, "Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals."
Microsoft-Yahoo combination would create a more competitive market by establishing a compelling number-two for Internet search and online advertising and alternate scenarios only lead to less competition, he added.
The Microsoft official said that Google, the dominant search engine and advertising company on the web, has amassed about 75 per cent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow.
"According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 per cent search query share in the US and more than 85 per cent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 per cent combined in the US and approximately 10 per cent combined in Europe," Smith said.