“Microsoft is concerned with Google’s power as a data collector”

Dec 24, 2012 11:31 GMT  ·  By

Google is undoubtedly one of the largest tech companies in the entire world, but a Microsoft lawyer claims that the Mountain View-based firm has even become the emperor of the Internet.

Pamela Jones Harbour, a former member of the FTC and currently working as a lawyer for a company that also represents Microsoft, said in an editorial published in the New York Times that Microsoft is concerned with Google’s power as a data collector.

“Its search engine accounts for nearly 80 percent of all Web searches in the United States — and a remarkable 98 percent of searches from mobile devices. In that role, Google is not just an eponymous verb but perhaps the most central conduit of information in the nation — and, indeed, on the planet. No other search engine comes close,” Harbour said.

Microsoft has already started a more “personal” war with Google in an attempt to promote its very own Bing search engine and to disclose some unfair tactics currently used by the Mountain View-based search giant.

The “Scroogled” campaign is aimed at consumers using Google’s shopping service, with Microsoft claiming that Google is actually serving them ads instead of relevant shopping results.

What’s more, a Microsoft PR official recently attacked Google on Twitter, indicating that the search company is actually relying on several unfair tactics in its struggle to attract more users.

But Harbour believes that the FTC should not delay a decision on a potential antitrust lawsuit against Google.

“This would be a severe setback for Internet users. It will allow Google to continue to amass unbridled control over data gathering, with grave consequences for privacy and for consumer choice,” she said.

“Google is not just a ‘search engine company,’ or an ‘online services company,’ or a publisher, or an advertising platform. At its core, it’s a data collection company.”