October 15, 2008 4:10:43 PM CDT
(Newser) – You have to forgive Microsoft if it indulges in some schadenfreude today, writes Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times. Archrival Google is facing a peril that’s all too familiar in Redmond. Steve Ballmer can sit back tomorrow as Google’s top execs go before the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, secure in the knowledge that he helped put them there.
Yahoo's Faustian search advertising pact with Google is what caught lawmakers' attention, but Ballmer’s Yahoo machinations are a sideshow, Dudley contends. "Google and Microsoft are warring over which one will be the world's dominant software company. Yahoo's not a contender, it's materiel." After all, no one knows better than Microsoft how much damage antitrust scrutiny can do to a fast-moving tech company.
Source Seattle Times
Oct 14, 08 12:01 PM CDT Google and Yahoo are working to settle any antitrust issues arising from their proposed joint online ad venture, the Wall Street Journal reports. Google has offered a cap on the volume of ads it sells Yahoo, which may be willing to continue selling search ads to avoid lengthy legal battles that threaten to stifle the deal. More »
Sep 12, 08 12:04 PM CDT After struggling through months of takeover battles and sagging stock prices, Yahoo says it’s working to become a web destination for users rather than simply a jumping-off point, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It plans to add third-party content and newly developed applications on a new Yahoo home page, allowing users to access sites like Netflix without leaving. More »
Sep 9, 08 9:39 AM CDT The Justice Department has hired a top lawyer to review a possible antitrust case against the Google-Yahoo advertising deal, which would give the companies control of 80% of web search ads, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sanford Litvack, a former Disney vice-chairman, was Jimmy Carter’s antitrust chief. While officials have been deposing witnesses and collecting documents for weeks, it’s not yet certain they'll go to court. More »
Jul 24, 08 4:21 PM CDT CEO Steve Ballmer is spinning Microsoft’s failure to acquire Yahoo expertly, telling analysts today that, unburdened by the search giant, the company can be more frisky and adaptable in its fight with nemesis Google, the Wall Street Journal reports. Actions might speak louder than words, though: Microsoft announced yesterday it would give the leader of its online efforts the boot, and restructure. More »
Jul 23, 08 12:09 PM CDT Yahoo’s earnings report yesterday didn’t portend an immediate turnaround, Catherine Holahan writes in BusinessWeek, meaning the company must do something to meet the “grandiose claims” it made in rejecting Microsoft’s bid. Some still see Yahoo ultimately taking that path, and expanding its deal with Google is another option that might justify Yahoo standing firm on its third-quarter and yearly forecasts. More »
Google • Congress • Microsoft • Yahoo • antitrust • Steve Ballmer
