At a U.S. congressional hearing, lawyers for Google and Yahoo have defended the companies’ recent decision to partner on advertising, saying the arrangement does not violate antitrust laws and will help to keep Yahoo competitive.

Their arguments, made on Tuesday, were countered by Microsoft officials who argued that the partnership would allow Google and Yahoo to dominate more than 90 percent of the search advertising market and could significantly raise prices.

“I never felt so sorry for poor little

old Microsoft,” said Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to laughter.

In a statement, Bradford Smith, senior vice president and general counsel of Microsoft, said: “If search is the gateway to the World Wide Web, and most believe that it is, that deal will put Google in a position to own that gateway and the info that flows through it. When Yahoo talks about […]

Orginal post by Top Tech News