Google Says Microsoft is Up to Its Old Tricks

Google learned from Netscape not to wait until the cows are already out of the barn before taking action. When Microsoft releases its new operating system Vista, there will be an on screen search box preconfigured for MSN search. Google objects to this and wants users to be able to choose which search engine they would like to use rather than having the default be MSN:

New Microsoft Browser Raises Google's Hackles, by Steve Lohr, NY Times: ...Google ... is raising objections to the way that it says Microsoft ... is wielding control over Internet searching in its new Web browser. Google, which only recently began beefing up its lobbying efforts in Washington, says it expressed concerns ... in recent talks with the Justice Department and the European Commission, both of which have brought previous antitrust actions against Microsoft.

The new browser includes a search box in the upper-right corner that is typically set up to send users to Microsoft's MSN search service. Google contends that this puts Microsoft in a position to unfairly grab Web traffic and advertising dollars from its competitors. The move, Google claims, limits consumer choice and is reminiscent of the tactics that got Microsoft into antitrust trouble in the late 1990's. ... Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google [said] "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."

Microsoft replies that Google is misreading its intentions and actions. It says the default settings in the browser, Internet Explorer 7, are easy to change. ... Google estimates that the boxes, when available, are the starting point for 30 to 50 percent of a user's searches...

Whether Microsoft's treatment of the search box will have an impact on the search market is uncertain. From an antitrust perspective, harm to competition is the litmus test, not just swinging a sharp elbow or two. ... "Assume that everything Google says is true; the question then is whether Microsoft's conduct is really going to have a serious effect on Google," said Andrew I. Gavil, a law professor at Howard University. "Obviously, Google thinks that it will." ...

Google has lost some of its luster recently, and I wonder if it will face market domination charges itself at some point, but in a match between Google and Microsoft, I'm still in Google's camp.

One reason to think this doesn't give Google an equal chance is the research on opt-out versus opt-in health and retirement insurance programs. The research shows that opt-in plans often get very little participation, a factor that works strongly in Microsoft's favor.