'Google' the most searched item in Microsoft Bing: Alphabet Inc. lawyer
Addressing a -long hearing on a 2018 antitrust penalty case, technology giant Google said the most searched item on Microsoft's search engine Bing was 'Google'
- Tech News
- 2 min read
Addressing the second day of a week-long hearing on a 2018 antitrust penalty case, technology giant Google has slammed its rival Microsoft and claimed 'Google' is the most searched term on their search engine.
"We have presented data proving that the most popular search inquiry on Bing (Microsoft's search engine) is by far Google," Bloomberg quoted a lawyer for the Alphabet Inc. unit as saying at the European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg.
The argument from Google came in response to the antitrust penalty imposed by the European Commission for stifling competition through the dominance of its Android operating system, Bloomberg reported. The European Commission had fined Google €4.34 billion (Rs 37,634 crore) for breaching EU antitrust rules in 2018. According to a press release by the EU, Google has forced unlawful restrictions on Android gadget makers and mobile network operators to cement its authoritative position in a general internet search.
"Google has used Android as a medium to fasten the dominance of its search engine. These exercises have denied opponents the opportunity to innovate and fight on the merits," Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, had said during his 2018 judgement.
"They have discarded European consumers the benefits of efficient competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules," Vestager had aded.
Microsoft Bing is not in the competition for Google: Advocate in Court
Meanwhile, the lawyer for Alphabet Inc., Alfonso Lamadrid, on Tuesday, asserted to the court that the people were using Google as their search engine because they felt convenient and easy to operate, not because the tech giant forced them to use it. He informed the court that the market share of the Googe is much beyond the capability of Bing- a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft.
"More than 95% of people prefer using Google over Bing and other rivals companies," informed Lamadrid to the EU's General Court in Luxembourg. Notably, this was not the first time when rival companies challenged Google's working module. In June 2017, the Europen Commission fined Google €2.42 billion for abusing its dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to Google's own comparison shopping service.