Google opposes Microsoft's bid to buy Yahoo

Internet search giant Google Inc. Sunday voiced opposition to Microsoft's bid to buy Yahoo Inc.

"Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions," David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, said in remarks posted online.

Microsoft has offered 44.6 billion U.S. dollars to buy Yahoo Inc. in a bid to gain ground on Google in the Internet's booming search and advertising markets.

If the acquisition materializes, Microsoft and Yahoo would have about 16 percent of the worldwide Internet search market - still far behind Google's 62 percent share, according to comScore Media Metrix.

"This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation."

This was Google's first official reaction to Microsoft's acquisition bid. Google views the possible acquisition as Microsoft's attempt to gain illegal control over the Internet.

"Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?" Drummond wrote.

He was referring to Microsoft's previous practice of using Windows to help extend the reach of its web browser and other applications - a strategy that triggered a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit alleging that the software maker illegally used its operating system to stifle competition. The dispute ended with a 2002 settlement that required Microsoft to abandon some of its past practices.

Drummond's remarks underscored the online search leader's worries about its two biggest rivals teaming up.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, tried to justify the proposed acquisition, saying that preventing Microsoft from buying Yahoo would undermine competition by allowing Google to become even more dominant than it already is on the Internet.

"Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet," Smith said. "We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo will advance these goals," he said.