Ballmer Says Microsoft Is Last Company Battling Against Google "Monopoly"
Shortly after Microsoft rolled out its new look and features for Bing, the company's CEO Steve Ballmer spoke of the search engine in a presentation held during a financial analysts meeting. During his presentation, the executive referred to Google having a monopoly, and quipped that Microsoft is the last company competing against it, with Bing being a vital part of that effort.
In particular, when Ballmer was asked by one individual how Microsoft might go about battling against Google's ever-growing advertising and search dominance in the world of Internet, the CEO said that his company is the only one "in the world" attempting to do so, and Bing is that effort. Microsoft's search engine ranks as the second in the nation, falling of course below Google, which trumps its 17.9-percent share with a much higher 67-percent.
In particular, on the topic of consumer services and how Microsoft can make money from such efforts, Ballmer said: "Google does it. They have this incredible, amazing, dare I say monopoly that we are the only person left on the planet trying to compete with." He went on to elaborate, saying that scale in search advertising in important, with a lesser degree resulting in lower revenues for every search than its competitor receives.
As such, Microsoft aims to increase its volume, thereby boosting revenues from its search engine and placing it in a better position to take on what it views as Google's monopoly. The CEO also touched on the topic of the Internet giant's bundling with Google Maps and YouTube, amongst other things, but mostly stuck to larger criticisms of the company, summing it up as, "I think they need pressure in the marketplace."
Criticism from Microsoft is nothing new for Google, with the aforementioned company having, among other things, kicked off a "Scroogled" campaign to jab at the Internet giant and its services. Of course, Google isn't the only company to take jabs, with Microsoft having also poked at Apple this month with video advertisements that it ultimately pulled after Internet backlash.
SOURCE: The Verge