We reported on November 5th that Google and Yahoo ended their ad agreement. We only knew what the Google Blog (and other news outlets) told us: the government didn't seem too happy about the agreement and advertisers were concerned.
In the past 24 hours, though, it's come to light that there was a lot more than just a "governmental concern." The truth of the matter is that the United States Department of Justice was "three hours away" from filing an antitrust lawsuit against Google, according to CNET.
Now what? Well, Google's decision to pull away was "shrewd." And they think it's smart that Google pulled out, whereas Microsoft's past history shows that they wouldn't back down.
MS rarely back down. Thats why they got such a bad reputation- they were swallowing a multi-million (dollar/pound/euro- take your pick) DAILY fine about publishing "complete and accurate technical specifications" and still fighting.G still enjoys public affection. It would be seriously bad for them to lose this publically annointed halo. MS never cared what people thought of them- as long as people BOUGHT their product, by hook or by crook
At the same time, though, some wonder why there was a concern about monopolies anyhow. After all, Google and Yahoo are considered competitors.
At the same time, there's a problem with the government's approach, according to one individual.
If the government knew anything about running a business, they wouldn't be operating with a close to $1 trillion annual deficit.
(In comparison, Google is doing a lot better.)
Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and Sphinn.
