Microsoft Files Lengthy Complaint Against Google

[JMcEntegart]

Microsoft has quite a past with the European Commission when it comes to antitrust suits, but this time the company is on the other side of the court.

Microsoft Files Lengthy Complaint Against Google : Read more

 

[xerroz]

I hope Google loses

 

[Guest]

So, Microsoft is trying to tell the EU to make Google suck?

 

[kcorp2003]

[citation][nom]xerroz[/nom]I hope Google loses[/citation]

indeed.

 

[_Cubase_]

And so it begins. Companies Rise, they get get really big, get really nasty, and at the end of the day the consumers are the ones that get the short straw. Ah business...

 

[dogman_1234]

...when do we, the consumers, need to bend over?

 

[randomizer]

As much as I dislike Microsoft, I think they have some valid points here (assuming this is the full story, which I know it isn't). Google have been perpetuating the idea that they are about openness and freedom when in reality they are not (only a handful of their products/services are partially open). I guess they took a leaf out of MS's book. Embrace, extend, extinguish. Social networking is up next with the +1 thing.

 

[ventanni]

It's pretty funny to watch large corporations duke it out in poo-flinging contests when both are well known to shit where they eat.

 

[captaincharisma]

so i guess this means Bing has failed so MS has to sue the company who makes the better search engine

 

[itchyisvegeta]

Does Google actually sell anything? I don't remember buying anything from the computer sections of stores, or online with the Google brand or anything. I use their search engine a lot, and used to use their 411 service until they took it down.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]captaincharisma[/nom]so i guess this means Bing has failed so MS has to sue the company who makes the better search engine[/citation]
Microsoft isn't sueing Google...at least not in this particular instance. They have simply joined the list of complainants against Google in the EU. Google has taken the same path as MS...and as such, should be forced to follow the same guidelines as MS. Google is trying to shut out any possible competition....like MS has done at times. The difference here is Google calls this "innovation" while MS referred to it as "business as usual". By Google's beliefs....they're trying to "innovate" their competition completely out of any market they move into. MS did it with buyouts and questionable licensing practices. Google is doing it by trying to lock their competition out of any Google products. ChromeOS will even require the Chrome browser to function....doubt they'll even allow another browser to be installed on ChromeOS if it ever gets released.

 

[kinggraves]

Microsoft has no business wagging their finger at anyone for shady business ethics and monopolization. Now they know how all their competition over the years has felt.

Some complaints are valid. Google should not have exclusive access to public domain literature for example. Some of Microsoft's complaints are absurd. Google doesn't owe it to their competition to make their own services easier for competition to use. In the end, making the service harder for WP7 phones hurts Google, because they're the ones losing hits. MS can feel free to offer competing services if they don't like it. Google DOES need to be watched to make sure they aren't preventing competition, but they are where they are because they had a better product.

If they feel that Google should make it easier for them to access Youtube, maybe MS will start insisting their OEM customers always build dual boot systems with Linux installed as well. I mean, it's only fair that everyone should see how easy the competing product is to use, right? They could also ensure their OS doesn't come with their own preinstalled software. Matter of fact, it could suggest alternatives to using their products, since MS wants to be a champion of consumers having all options set in front of them.

 

[JamesSneed]

I find it a bit ironic Google is pulling a "Microsoft" on Microsoft and MS doesn't like it. I think its pretty funny MS is griping youtube should be open to them, Google's direct competitor. If Google really went all the way like MS did they would make it so Google and youtube would not work with any flavor of IE and post links for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. That would be about on par with what MS did back in the day with the "free" browser that was non-compliant so everyone had web pages coded just for IE that would not quite work proper with any other browser.

 

[ThisIsMe]

[citation][nom]sykozis[/nom]MS did it with buyouts and questionable licensing practices. Google is doing it by trying to lock their competition out of any Google products.[/citation]

well don't forget these buyouts:

2004 Keyhole, Inc - The company made Earth Viewer which was renamed to Google Earth

2006 YouTube - still called YouTube

2007 DoubleClick - was a widely used advertising and launching point for web developers which was just obsorbed by Google who then gained all of it's customers, contacts and methods

2007 GrandCentral - they services and products later became known as Google Voice

2009 On2 Technologies - which was a video software maker

2009 Aardvark - this company had a social network search engine and was a small player on the social network scene but did have a lot of interesting ideas, and of course now we're seeing Google with it's new social networking products and services

2010 Agnilux - This was a small hardware startup which, in my opinion, may allow Google to become more like Apple with their own computers and own software running on them. Maybe it's a stretch, but shortly after the purchase we found out about those mysterious Google laptops getting shipped to select testers for feedback.

2010 Global IP Solutions - a company based in Norway providing web-based teleconferencing and related services which will enable Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products.

2010 AdMob - another ad network but this time specializing in mobile services and devices

Now also keep in mind this list does not include the numerous "deals" and "partnerships" that Google has struck to "allow" itself and these partners to has better search results for things like video services, social networking, higher res satellite imagery for itself, advertising, and YouTube access.

Most of this info can be found very easily, and here I will provide a Wikipedia link as the source for most of what I listed above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google#Acquisitions_and_partnerships

I hope you all see this as only a chance to be informative and mostly fact based, since I tried to sound non biased or opinionated about any side of this story.

 

[rebturtle]

"Hey kettle, it's me, pot. Have you been hitting up the tanning beds?"

 

[alidan]

so here is what im reading.

microsoft cant make bing work well with youtube, wants google to help them make bing better

microsoft cant make youtube work to its fullest, well... you don't get youtube than, you don't own it, its not yours. make a competitive service. apple let some version of FLASH on their phones, something they despise, to allow youtube, and sense apple is a non competitive search anything, they got help.

and they are complaining about windows live and bing... my god make something that people want first. if bing was good it would go viral, and the only thing i like it for is the way images are handled. and that isnt enough to make me use it.

all i see here is microsoft trying to get google to make bing better by court order.

if google wanted to they could shut youtube down right now, and i would to spite microsoft if they won. and i would make it public, "microsoft wants us to help them make a search engine better than google, the only way to avoid this was to shut down youtube... complain to microsoft. "

 

[ericburnby]

What's good for the goose is good fro the gander.

Since Google is operating like MS was in years past, they should suffer similar consequences.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]captaincharisma[/nom]so i guess this means Bing has failed so MS has to sue the company who makes the better search engine[/citation]
No, Bing is just as good a search engine, Google is using its market position to force competitors to the margins.

All the anti-MS drones know exactly what I mean because they used the same arguement against Internet Explorer, but because its Google they suddenly forget all their old rationalisations?

Short memory on some people...

 

[ericburnby]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]No, Bing is just as good a search engine, Google is using its market position to force competitors to the margins.All the anti-MS drones know exactly what I mean because they used the same arguement against Internet Explorer, but because its Google they suddenly forget all their old rationalisations?Short memory on some people...[/citation]

Exactly.

I wonder what Google is going to do with Chrome OS and the Chrome browser? Are they going to be allowed to distribute them integrated in the EU, or will they also be required to present users with a "browser choice" window to allow consumers the chance to install a competitive browser?

 

[ukee1593]

The funny thing is ... this may actually NOT be an April fools joke!

With what Microsoft does such as making it difficult to make software compatible with Office and Microsoft products, Copyrighting just about every key on your keyboard so that others cannot use it, etc THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WHINGE ABOUT.

Also the way that BING handles Youtube - which definitely isn't too bad you would hardly realize that it is actually Youtube. lots of people these days are now saying "I watched it on BING video" when it was actually youtube!!

GOOGLE's products are actually very good ... Overall most of their platforms and systems are infinitely more stable that Microsoft's. They deserve a gold star for that ... Just if Microsoft cannot work out how to integrate WP7 with Youtube.

FINALLY - Think back to the last time that you reformatted your computer ... It was almost impossible to use anything but BING or LIVE SEARCH because MICROSOFT FORCED YOU TO USE IT. Most less experienced users probably don't know how to change their search provider from BING and hence there are more BING users in the USA because there are a lot more computers and CHEAP computers in the USA! Therefore in the EU where computers are more expensive only the people who need computers actually buy them ... WHO are ALSO the people who CAN and DO change their search provider from GOOGLE.

MICROSOFT ... Go stuff yourselves

SOURCES ... I JUST REFORMATTED MY COMPUTER BTW ...

 

[eddieroolz]

[citation][nom]ukee1593[/nom]GOOGLE's products are actually very good ... citation]

Oh yeah, Google can make their products spot-on. Easy to do that when you're spying on your users to illegally collect data.

With that said, I agree with most of Microsoft's claims. I wrote a paper on Google and its breach of privacy earlier this term, so many of these allegations are in fact recognized by not just Microsoft but also by numerous researchers worldwide.

It is just ironic to see people talking crap about Microsoft and rooting for Google despite being fed spoonful of propaganda. Google isn't all that great of a corporation it says it is...but people still believe it anyway.

 

[JamesSneed]

I don't think people are rooting for Goolge in this case. This is just so damn hypocritical of MS to jump on this bandwagon. I think misery loves company and since MS had to pay EU fines they might as well try to get their competitor slapped as well. I think MS has a little Android envy as well.

 

[rantoc]

Microsoft got hit big times when they had Windows with IE as native browser, blocking the competition (not that it blocked any other browser to be installed, but rather required the user to do so).

Now its Google's turn to be the company who think they stand above the law in blocking the competition in a monopoly case.

What company will be next to think they can do exactly as they please?

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]ukee1593[/nom]Think back to the last time that you reformatted your computer ... It was almost impossible to use anything but BING or LIVE SEARCH because MICROSOFT FORCED YOU TO USE IT[/citation]
Sounds like you are complaining about Microsoft to compensate for your own lack of knowledge.

 

[back_by_demand]

Everyone, forget the companies involved for a moment.

Two wrongs do not make a right, just because one company had anti-trust litigation issues, does not mean another company that does the same can be allowed to do so with impunity.

One law for everyone or it's not a law at all.