Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

As Google eyes Australia exit, Microsoft talks Bing with PM

Published 01/31/2021, 11:02 PM
Updated 02/01/2021, 03:26 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Google sign is pictured on a Google building

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Google sign is pictured on a Google building

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Software giant Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is confident its search product Bing can fill the gap in Australia if Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) pulls its search over required payments to media outlets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.

Australia has introduced laws that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets whose content links drive traffic to their platforms.

However, the Big Tech firms have called the laws unworkable and said last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations went ahead. Those services include Google's search engine, which has 94% of the country's search market, according to industry data.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since spoken with Morrison about the new rules, the tech company told Reuters, and on Monday, Morrison said the software company was ready to grow the presence of its search tool Bing, the distant No. 2 player.

"I can tell you, Microsoft's pretty confident, when I spoke to Satya," Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without giving further detail of the conversation.

"We just want the rules in the digital world to be the same that exist in the real world, in the physical world," Morrison added.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion took place but declined to comment, because the company was not directly involved in the laws.

"We recognise the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and we recognise the challenges the media sector has faced over many years through changing business models and consumer preferences," the spokeswoman said.

Google declined to comment.

A day earlier, Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had requested a meeting over the law, and that they had talked, but that he would not back down on the change.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO:  Sign of Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai

At a Senate hearing into the laws, Department of Treasury deputy secretary of markets Meghan Quinn said the Australian government would have limited ability to intervene if Google's departure hurt businesses which rely on its search function.

"The (media bargaining) code doesn't prevent the wholesale withdrawal of services, and there's difficulty in any of the legislative mechanisms we've got for someone to (be forced to) provide a service," Quinn said.

Latest comments

Goodbye good riddance! Care factor ZERO. In any case, you can still get the services via a proxy. All these biased services need to be transparent and accountable. The days of the wild frontier need to go. The more countries the better. Then these companies will be forced to do the honest thing. They'll be dragged into the new realization sooner or later, be it kicking and screaming like a bunch of whinny babies. Better now, than later. FREE RIDE IS OVER.
Austrilians forced to use Bing? So no one wins in this situation.
They can have bing. It is a pcs of # anyway.
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.