Sparks Fly as Yahoo, Microsoft Take to Hill

Yang admitted deal with Google would hurt competition: Microsoft
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2008 11:08 AM CDT
Sparks Fly as Yahoo, Microsoft Take to Hill
Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang, right, accompanied by General Counsel Michael Callahan, testifies on Capitol Hill in this Nov. 6, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, file)

Congressional hearings on Yahoo's proposed ad deal with Google got a little heated yesterday, with a Microsoft lawyer testifying that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang recently admitted, in a private meeting, that the pact would reduce competition, the Los Angeles Times reports. Yahoo’s general counsel said he recalled no such remarks at the meeting, and a spokesman later swatted the charge aside.

The Justice Department is looking into the ad deal, as are a number of state attorneys general; Yahoo and Google say they'll pause for the investigation. The hearing, mainly a legislative formality, became a tug of war between Google and Microsoft, with Google and Yahoo arguing that a Microsoft/Yahoo merger was an even more troubling prospect than the Google/Yahoo alliance. (More Yahoo stories.)

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