Microsoft, Google Battle On Capitol Hill

One might suppose it's due diligence to listen to the arguments of companies enormously invested in the outcome of regulatory decisions, so the onus of coming to a reasonable conclusion rests solely on Congress whether to believe Microsoft or Google in two hearings today in the Senate and the House.

And to be sure, legislative judgment will be closely scrutinized. At issue is whether Google's search advertising deal with Yahoo violates antitrust laws and/or poses significant privacy concerns. It seems only fitting the government—with books on tube systems, dump trucks, and pervasive economic indicator denial—would be dragged out to referee the urination streams of three tech giants, all of them praying the wind doesn't shift.

Yahoo hasn't been as quick to issue regulatory statements via press channels, preferring perhaps to sit back as two suitors duke it out, solidifying its place as a pawn, as a piece of meat. Microsoft and Google, however, have their weapons readied, their steely-eyed stares, their tap-dancing shoes.

Because, really, it's not, never has been about sober judgment; it's about money, plain and simple, and each company's end game. They're asking legislators to settle a civil, monetary dispute, as if legislators don't have other things to do, and legislators will have to listen to both sides just as judges would have to, fully knowing both sides are slightly (okay, more than slightly) full of it, their arguments tainted by their own goals.

It all comes down to who sings prettiest. Or there is the smallest chance members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee will step outside the razzle-dazzle long enough to make an informed decision.

“If one company – Google – controls up to 90 percent of online search advertising it will have a complete picture of your online activities," says Smith. "If that happens, Congress won’t need to enact a federal privacy policy, we will already have a national privacy policy – Google’s privacy policy.”

Just as predictably, Google believes those fears are unfounded and spins it so 90 percent control is good for everybody involved. Their argument, mainly rests on something rather abstract but plausible: A true monopoly is hard to come by on the Internet, so long as its open and interoperable natures are preserved. There will always be competition, always a challenger. 

One of those challengers, Google argues is still Yahoo, despite the search ad agreement. Google will not be providing a search engine for Yahoo, only advertisements, which will not increase Google's search share. Senior VP for Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer