Today, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, will appear in the public hearing against Google. The CEO will have to elaborate on the discovery talks he had with Apple to get Bing into Apple products.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been summoned in the U.S. antitrust case against Google. The case filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) seeks to prove that Google Search unfairly maintains its dominant position.
Bing on Apple devices
Nadella is following up on the testimony of some managers at Microsoft. These colleagues testified last week about the challenges of getting Bing in hardware instead of Google Search by default. That would be due to the rival search engine’s market dominance.
The testimony revealed that Microsoft considered paying Apple to integrate the Bing search engine into Safari. Another option discussed was the total sale of Bing to Apple. The CEO is now being called to strengthen this testimony, as he would have held the talks with Apple. The deal ultimately fell through, and Apple extended the contract with Google to provide the search engine by default on Apple devices.
Also read: Microsoft testifies how difficult it is to get Bing into hardware for a fee
Argument against Google
The DoJ hopes to use the CEO’s testimony against Google. The negotiations could show that even a company the size of Microsoft can’t bring anything to stop Google Search’s market dominance.
The last issue Nadella will be heard on is the integration of Google Search on the Surface Duo smartphones. Microsoft develops these devices but still offers Google’s search engine by default, like other smartphones. According to testimony from Jon Tinter, VP of Business Development at Microsoft, this was the only option to obtain a valid license for the Android operating system could not be obtained. Bloomberg reports.
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