Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in the US Justice Department’s battle with Alphabet’s Google on Monday, October 2. In a difficult hearing, Nadella responded to inquiries about the challenges faced by Google’s monopoly in the search engine industry, its multi-billion-dollar agreement with Apple for iPhones, and how the agreement with Apple harmed Microsoft’s efforts to expand Edge and Bing, its browser and search engine. Here are the main responses to the CEO of Microsoft’s cross-examination of Google.
Due to Google’s affiliation with Apple, we were unable to compete:Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella
Nadella claimed that Microsoft’s agreements with Apple made it impossible for it to compete with the search engine. In the midst of contentious cross-examination, Nadella said to a Google attorney, “You can call it popular, but to me it’s dominant.”
Microsoft was utilised by Apple to “bid up the price” it pays to Google
Satya Nadella
Nadella claimed that Apple was using Microsoft to “bid up the price” it received from Google during his testimony. “Do you believe Google would still compensate Apple if there were no other search engines? Why would they act in that way?
Google being the No. 1 search engine made the things ‘tough’
Satya Nadella
Nadella essentially agreed with the government’s assertion that Google’s position as the top search engine in the world produced a network effect that only increased Google’s potency as an advertising and user tool. When you don’t have (market) share, it becomes even more difficult to succeed, according to Nadella.
Microsoft was ready to pay Apple to be the ‘default’ on iPhones
Satya Nadella
In his evidence, Nadella stressed the importance of distribution and said that his business was willing to pay Apple to have Bing set as the default search engine on iPhones.
You get up in the morning, brush your teeth and search on Google
Satya Nadella
According to Nadella, changing defaults is currently easiest on Windows and most difficult on mobile. In addition, he said, “You get up in the morning, brush your teeth, and search on Google,” alluding to the search engine’s dominance.
Google argument on being default on iPhones “bogus”
Satya Nadella
“Defaults are the only thing that matter,” Nadella added, calling Google’s claims that users will quickly move to another app “bogus.” “Being the default on Safari would change the game for Bing,” he continued. The default web browser for iPhones is Apple Safari.
Microsoft waiting for “government intervention”
The CEO of Microsoft stated that the firm has kept up its investment in Bing while watching for a potential “paradigm shift” or other form of government involvement to restructure the corporation.
ChatGPT may not change Google’s dominance over internet search
Despite some initial “exuberance,” Nadella said in testimony that he no longer thought that ChatGPT’s emergence might challenge Google’s hegemony in the search industry. Nadella expressed concern that Google would use its search market dominance to coerce content producers that are essential to the development of generative AI models. Earlier this year, Microsoft purchased the bulk of the AI chatbot ChatGPT. Despite my enthusiasm, I fear a lot that this cycle of violence could get even worse, Nadella told the judge.
Nadella’s response on Google being the ‘best’ search engine
Nadella responded that Microsoft had sought to demonstrate that Bing engineers would be able to “bridge the quality gap” with access to the number of queries made on Apple smartphones in response to the question that suggested Google’s contention that it is dominant because of its quality and not because of illegal activity.
