10.19.09

Google Continues Eating Microsoft’s Lunch

Posted in GNU/Linux, Google, Microsoft, Search, Servers at 11:04 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: A glimpse at how the ‘Web wars’ are going along now that Microsoft loses customers to Google and the Yahoo! deal is blocked

GOOGLE IS not just a search engine anymore. In fact, for Google on the server and in mobile devices, GNU/Linux is the only platform.

Microsoft’s financial results come on Thursday (Microsoft will try to bury these under the rug using the simultaneous launch of Vista 7) and it will suffer greatly from lost business such as this from the news:

Google lands a new blow on Microsoft with Rentokil Initial email agreement

GOOGLE yesterday announced its biggest ever email deal with support services firm Rentokil Initial, estimated by analysts to be worth up to $3.5m (£2.2m).

The internet giant will replace rival Microsoft, after it secured the contract to provide email to 35,000 of the rat catcher’s employees using its Google Apps product – which includes a calendar, integrated chat, email translation and video communications.

This is just one among many such deals. These are not a triumph to Free software because Google’s software is mostly proprietary. “Microsoft and Google battle with cloud computing,” states the following new article.

In the world of computer software, becoming dormant or, God forbid, complacent, is a death sentence.

Microsoft is all too aware of this as they struggle to keep people interested in their operating systems.

Google, a company that seems to never stop to catch its breath technologically, is a rather surprising threat to Microsoft — the undisputed chief among the current thick-client software companies.

A Slate publication (formerly of Microsoft) writes the following:

According to the New York Times, the forecast for Microsoft (MSFT) is “partly cloudy.” While the company is planning a high-profile software release later on this week, doubts remain whether Microsoft can build as much buzz as its rivals. Its chief software architect says the company is reinventing itself or at least trying to.

Google may seem unstoppable given its strong results, as covered in Bloomberg and in BusinessWeek:

Earnings preview: High hopes riding on Google’s 3Q

[...]

Microsoft renamed its search engine Bing in June as part of an upgrade that has been heavily promoted in a $100 million marketing campaign. So far though, Google remains way out in front with a nearly two-thirds share of the U.S. search market compared with about 10 percent for Microsoft.

The article correctly states that Microsoft just renamed its search and threw a lot of money at brainwash (including paid/compensated bloggers). We’re seeing more of the same in China these days, but it seems like a dead end for Microsoft. Even the Yahoo! deal becomes less relevant as Yahoo! continues to decline and antitrust stands in the way [1, 2, 3, 4]. Here is an update on the situation in Europe:

Ballmer: Europe jurisdiction on Yahoo deal unclear

[...]

“Europe’s a little confusing because the Europeans have to decide which jurisdiction, whether it’s the European Commission or some of the national competition authorities,” will have final say over the deal, Ballmer added.

In an analysis which misses the point, no attention is given to the fact that the DOJ, unlike Europe, is likely to approve the deal because of Microsoft influence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Earlier today we posted a video of Lessig where he talks about the subject. Had there been real justice, the DOJ should (and would) impose sanctions on Microsoft for bullying Yahoo! and selfishly destroying the company for its own benefit. See for example:

In this week’s news we only find that Yahoo! carries on falling (financially), Google is gaining market share in the US while Yahoo! declines, and Microsoft shields its new brand. █

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

The Microsoft ‘Mouthpiece Theatre’ Starts the Vista 7 Marketing Blitz

What Else is New

The Darker Past of the Next President of the EPO - Part III: More Details About Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Former Employer of Campinos

The side of Campinos which he prefers to conceal, or rather his association with a rather notorious Portuguese bank
UPC Looks Like More of a Distant Dream (or Nightmare) as Germany Adds Another Two Months' Delay

The likelihood that the UPC will be altogether scuttled is growing as delays keep piling up and more complaints are being filed by public interest groups (as opposed to Team UPC, which hoped to shove the UPCA down everyone's throats behind closed doors)
Patent Trolls Roundup: BlackBerry, Dominion Harbor, IPNav, IP Bridge

A quick review of recent news regarding patent trolls or entities which resemble (and sometimes feed) these
Battistelli's Destruction of the EPO is Bad for Everyone, Even Patent Attorneys

The collapse of the European patent system, owing primarily to Battistelli's totalitarian style and deemphasis on patent quality, means that "the war is lost," as one professional puts it
Links 19/10/2017: Mesa 17.2.3, New Ubuntu Release, Samsung Flirts With GNU/Linux Desktops

Links for the day
Some of the USPTO's Most Ridiculous Patents Are Scrutinised by “Above the Law” While Dennis Crouch Attempts to Tarnish Alice

Controversies over patent scope and level of novelty required for a patent; as usual, public interest groups try to restrict patent scope, whereas those who make money out of abundance of patents attempt to remove every barrier
Microsoft's Software Patents Aggression in Court (Corel Again)

Microsoft's tendency to not only abuse the competition but also to destroy it with patent lawsuits as seen in Corel's case
The Spanish Supreme Court Rejects the EPO's “Problem and Solution Approach” While Quality of European Patents Nosedives

European Patents (EPs) aren't what they used to be and their credibility is being further eroded and even detected as such
Europe is Being Robbed by Team Battistelli and the UPC/PPH Would Make Things Worse

The European Patent Office (EPO) has put litigation at the forefront, having implicitly decided to no longer bother with proper patent examination and instead issue lots of patents for judges and lawyers to argue about (at great expense to the public)
Team UPC Continues to Promote Illusion of UPC Progress Where There's None

The core members of Team UPC in the UK spread obvious falsehoods in the media, probably in an effort to attract 'business' (consultation regarding something that does not exist)
António Campinos: A True EPO Reformer or More of the Same?

More unfortunate reminders that Campinos and Battistelli don't quite diverge on the big issues, they're just more than two decades apart in age (but the same nationality)
Juve Has Confirmed That António Campinos is French

The relationship between Campinos and Battistelli has a nationality aspect to it, not even taking into account the interpersonal connection which goes a long way back
The Darker Past of the Next President of the EPO - Part II: António Campinos at Banco Caixa Geral de Depósitos

A look at the largely-hidden banking career of the next President of the EPO and the career of the person who competed with him for this position
SUEPO to the Media, Regarding Campinos: “No Comment, It’s Too Dangerous”

António Campinos, who is Benoît Battistelli's chosen successor at the EPO, as covered by German media earlier this month
Staff Union of the EPO (SUEPO) Willing to Work With Campinos But Foresees Difficulties

New message from SUEPO regarding Battistelli's successor of choice (Campinos)
Links 18/10/2017: GTK+ 3.92, Microsoft Bug Doors Leaked

Links for the day
The Darker Past of the Next President of the EPO - Part I: Introduction

Some new details about Mr. Campinos, who is Battistelli’s successor at the EPO
Confessions of EPO Insiders Reveal That European Patents (EPs) Have Lost Their Legitimacy/Value Due to Battistelli's Policies

A much-discussed topic at the EPO is now the ever-declining quality of granted patents, which make or break patent offices because quality justifies high costs (searches, applications, renewals and so on)
Patent Firms From the United States Try Hard to Push the Unitary Patent (UPC), Which Would Foment Litigation Wars in Europe

The UPC push seems to be coming from firms which not only fail to represent public interests but are not even European
In the Age of Alice and PTAB There is No Reason to Pursue Software Patents in the United States (Not Anymore)

The appeal board in the US (PTAB) combined with a key decision of the Supreme Court may mean that even at a very low cost software patents can be invalidated upon demand (petition) and, failing that, the courts will invalidate these
IAM is Wrong, the Narrative Isn't Changing, Except in the Battistelli-Funded (at EPO's Expense) Financial Times

The desperate attempts to change the narrative in the press culminate in nothing more than yet another misleading article from Rana Foroohar and some rants from Watchtroll
The Federal Circuit Continues Squashing Software Patents

Under the leadership of Sharon Prost the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) continues its war on software patents, making it very hard to remember the last time it tolerated any
SUEPO Representatives Like Elizabeth Hardon Vindicated as Battistelli's Detrimental Effect on Patent Quality is Widely Confirmed

Feedback regarding the awful refusal to acknowledge patent quality crisis at the EPO as well as the appointment of a President so close to Battistelli (who most likely assures continuation of his policies)
Links 17/10/2017: KDE Frameworks 5.39.0, Safe Browsing in Epiphany

Links for the day
Judge Bryson Rules Against Allergan After It Used Native American Tribes to Dodge Scrutiny of Patents (IPRs); Senator Hatch Does Not Understand IPRs

Having attempted to dodge inter partes reviews (IPRs) by latching onto sovereign immunity, Allergan loses a key case and Senator Hatch is meanwhile attempting to water down IPRs albeit at the same time bemoaning patent trolls (which IPRs help neutralise)
Rumours That António Campinos Initially Had No Competition at All (for Battistelli's Succession) Are Confirmed

Succession at the EPO (mostly French) shows that there's little room for optimism and Battistelli's people are too deeply entrenched in the upper echelons of the EPO
EPO Stakeholders Complain That the New Chairman Does Not Grasp the Issues at the EPO (or Denies These)

Some information from inside the EPO’s Administrative Council, whose Chairman is denying (at least to himself) some of the core issues that render the EPO less competitive in the international market
Another Misleading Article Regarding Patents From Rana Foroohar at the Financial Times

In an effort to promote the agenda of patent maximalists, many of whom are connected to the Financial Times, another deceiving report comes out
Monika Ermert's Reports About the Crisis at the EPO and IP Kat's Uncharacteristically Shallow Coverage

News from inside the Council shows conflict regarding the quality of European Patents (granted by the EPO under pressure from top-level management)
Patent Troll VirnetX a Reminder to Apple That Software Patents Are a Threat to Apple Too

VirnetX, a notorious patent troll, is poised to receive a huge sum of money from Apple and Qualcomm is trying to ban Apple products, serving to remind Apple of the detrimental impact of patents on Apple itself