NEWS: Google protests Microsoft Web search 'grab'

With a $10 billion advertising market at stake, Google is objecting 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 its concerns in recent talks with the Justice Department and the European Commission, both of which have brought previous successful antitrust actions against Microsoft.

The new browser includes a search box that is typically set up to send users to Microsoft's MSN search service. Google contends that this positions Microsoft to unfairly grab Web traffic and advertising dollars away from its competitors. The move, Google claims, limits consumer choice and is reminiscent of the tactics that got the company into antitrust trouble in the late 1990s.

Full story: seattlepi.com


Amazon Drops Google for Windows Live

Online retailer Amazon.com has dropped Google as its search result provider and selected Microsoft's new Windows Live Search instead. The change affects both Amazon's A9.com search engine and the company's Alexa toolbar and Web site.

The move is the first public show of support for Microsoft new search technology, which will eventually replace MSN Search after it leaves beta. Although neither Amazon nor Microsoft announced the switch, it follows rumors that eBay was also talking to the Redmond company in response to competition from Google Base. Amazon, like eBay, allows its users to sell their goods through the online store.

News source: BetaNews