10.16.10
Manufacturing a Case Against Microsoft Competitors: How the Monopolist Sponsors Dissent
Summary: Opposition to Google and to Apple is sponsored by Microsoft, as usual
ALMOST every time a company chooses Microsoft’s Bong [sic] over Google, it is not a case of sincere choice. Microsoft sometimes pays for it and sometimes it just buys parts of companies that do this. Facebook for example is partly owned by Microsoft (there was an attempt to require the whole company some years ago), so Mark Zuckerberg’s lip service to Bong [sic] is nothing but a case of playing for the bucks.
Slashdot and some other sites currently carry some of the latest Microsoft promotion, which Microsoft simply pays for by buying individuals or companies. Here is an example:
Microsoft advanced its partnership with Facebook this week, a move that could be the biggest threat to Google’s search standing yet.
Microsoft and Facebook announced that they’re teaming up to make Internet searching more social. Now when someone uses Bing’s search engine to look for a new car or a book, she can see which ones her friends liked. Searchers now are able to more easily get their friends’ take before they make their own decisions.
[...]
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the press conference on the Microsoft campus Wednesday, said there was a specific reason he wanted to go with Bing.
“They really are the underdog here,” Zuckerberg said. “They’re incentivized to go out and innovate. They have all these smart people and are trying to do all these new things.”
But wait a second, IDG. Who is paying Zuckerberg? The article from Sharon Gaudin should state more clearly that Microsoft owns part of Facebook.
Likewise, Ina Fried (Microsoft booster masquerading as a journalist) is currently writing about some Apple boycott, conveniently not mentioning who pays for part of it:
Steve Jobs’ Email Enemy Is Now Sponsored by Microsoft
Isaacs says she’s boycotting Apple after the company’s PR department ignored her calls and Jobs told her to “leave us alone” in a heated email exchange over Isaac’s attempts to collect information on Apple for a journalism school assignment. Isaacs told CNET reporter Ina Fried, “I wouldn’t be comfortable giving [Apple] a dime. If that’s the way you treat consumers, that’s not right.” She added ” I hate Apple, but I don’t hate Apple,” and will be objective in covering the company.
Isaacs spoke from the New York launch of Windows Phone 7. The Long Island University student’s travel expenses to the event were paid by Microsoft after she won a contest sponsored by the software company, which issued the award after her spat with Jobs. Nevertheless, added CNET, “the group’s adviser told them to be tough and hold Microsoft’s feet to the fire while meeting with various company executives and learning about the company’s products.” Isaacs shouldn’t have much trouble with that, even if Microsoft’s top executives are a bit more email shy than Steve Jobs.
Microsoft has been doing this for a long time, so it’s always important to check who pays for what. █
