Microsoft offers computer users a choice of web browsers from today

By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:39 PM on 01st March 2010

Microsoft is giving millions of Windows users the option of choosing another web browser from their own Internet Explorer.The change follows an agreement made with European competition
authorities, who ruled that bundling IE with Windows abused Microsoft’s
dominant position.Windows users in Europe who are running Internet Explorer as their default browser will be able to pick an alternative system from today.

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Google faces EU probe into complaints over search rankings and adverts

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By
Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 2:25 AM on 25th February 2010

Google said the investigation revolves around how it ranks websites in its search resultsGoogle is facing a preliminary investigation by the European Commission into allegations that it demotes rival sites in its search rankings.Three complaints about unfair competition have been made against the world’s number one search engine.A British and a French firm have complained about being ranked low in the U.S giant’s searches while Microsoft Corp’s Ciao! from Bing has filed a complaint about Google’s standard terms and conditions.The low rankings complaint is significant because high rankings in Google searches drive higher volumes of traffic to websites.It is the European Commission’s job to ensure that companies do not abuse any dominant position in the 27-country EU.They can fine firms up to 10 per cent of their revenues for violations.

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Google faces competition inquiry

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The European Commission is looking into complaints about Google’s behaviour, the company has revealed.The complaints were made by UK price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr, and Microsoft’s Ciao. Google’s senior competition lawyer Julia Holtz said the internet giant was “confident” it operated within European competition law. Foundem claims that its site is demoted in Google’s search results. “Foundem… argues that our algorithms demote their site in our results because they are a vertical search engine and so a direct competitor to Google,” Google said. “ejustice.fr’s complaint seems to echo these concerns.” The complaint regarding Ciao, which Microsoft bought in 2008, concerns Google’s standard terms and conditions. Microsoft initially took its case to the German competition authority, but Google said it had now been transferred to Brussels. “Although we haven’t been notified yet by the commission, we do believe it’s natural for competition officials to look at online advertising given how important it is to the development of the internet and the dominance of one player,” a Microsoft spokesman said. “In the meantime, we continue to cooperate with the German government’s investigation into complaints brought by Ciao.” In a blog, Google’s Ms Holtz revealed that the commission had told the company it had received the complaints. “Though each case raises slightly different issues, the question they ultimately pose is whether Google is doing anything to choke off competition or hurt our users and partners,” she said. “This is not the case.”

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Google under investigation for alleged breach of EU competition rules

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By Kamal Ahmed, City Editor (Sunday Telegraph)


Published: 12:12AM GMT 24 Feb 2010

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The investigation comes under the Lisbon Treaty’s “abuse of dominant position”
powers and is the first time that Google
has been targeted by the European Union.

Telegraph.co.uk can reveal that the Commission has written to Google
with a series of questions over how its search functions operate and also
questioned the way it sells advertising. It acted after complaints from the
UK search site Foundem, a price comparison site, Ciao, an online shopping
site owned by Microsoft, and ejustice.fr, a French site which details legal
cases and solicitor services.

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‘Microhoo’ search deal given go-ahead

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Microsoft and Yahoo! have won regulatory approval for their search partnership
to challenge Google, the marker leader.

Under the terms of the ten-year “Microhoo” partnership, Yahoo! will
use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine technology on its own sites, while
Yahoo! will act as the exclusive global sales force for the companies’
premium search advertisers.

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Newspapers vent anger over BBC iPhone app

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Plans to launch a dedicated BBC iPhone application (app) has been harshly
criticised by the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) which is set to
complain to ministers and the BBC Trust that the new smartphone service will
distort the market.

The plan, which was revealed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this
week, will mean that the BBC’s popular free online content, including its
iPlayer TV service, will be available as an iPhone app for the first time
and other platforms such as Google’s Android and BlackBerry later in the
year.

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BBC to launch its first iPhone applications

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The BBC will launch its first applications for the iPhone, including the
iPlayer catch-up TV service, as it looks to replicate its online content on
mobile phones.

It is the latest example of traditional media organisations embracing the
mobile phone to try to capture audiences that have started consuming content
in different ways.

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Google expands reach into ultra-fast broadband

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Google is to launch itself into yet another business - as a provider of
ultra-fast broadband to thousands of homes in the US.

The internet search company plans to build experimental, fiber-optic networks
delivering speeds of 1 gigabit per second. That is 20 times faster than the
fastest service available in the UK today, and 500 times faster than the
Government’s commitment of 2Mbps for broadband access in Britain by 2012.

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David Cameron beats the Boris drum - and Sir Martin Sorrell

By Jonathan Russell

Published: 9:31PM GMT 29 Jan 2010

No doubt falling back on his seven years’ experience in business as a
corporate spinner, Cameron turned to London Mayor Boris Johnson and
congratulated him on doing his bit for the deficit by flying to the World
Economic Forum economy class, unlike some Government ministers, he added,
without actually naming Lord Mandelson.

Advertising boss Sir Martin Sorrell also caught his eye.

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Twitter works on technology to foil censors

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site, has revealed that it is working on
technology that will block governments in countries like China and Iran from
censoring its users.

Twitter chief executive and co-founder Evan Williams told the Davos summit
that the company was working on “interesting hacks” to stop governments
interfering in its site but refused to divulge details of the new
technology.

Mr Williams was speaking in the wake of Google’s threat to close its Chinese
service unless the government relaxes internet censorship after a series of
cyber attacks on the email address of a number of its users. He said that
Twitter, which just past the 75 million user mark, was too small to follow
Google’s example in issuing foreign governments with such an ultimatum.

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