Microsoft Blasts Google's Ad Policies
Microsoft's deputy general counsel Wednesday chided rival Google, claiming the search giant's policies hurt advertisers by blocking them from being able to move their data to a competing platform.
In prepared remarks to the Association of National Advertisers law and public policy conference, Mary Snapp discussed three principles Microsoft sees as key to the future growth of online advertising: transparency, openness and respect for intellectual property.
Snapp said that Microsoft supports the ability of advertisers to be able to "port your data freely and openly between online ad platforms and to ... efficiently [manage] campaigns across these platforms." She criticized Google in its terms of service for AdWords for barring the use of third-party tools that copy data into a non-AdWords account.
"These and other similar sorts of restrictions raise your costs, they reduce competition, and they prevent anyone but Google from giving you, the advertisers, the scale and choices you want and need," Snapp said. She added that given Google's dominance in the online ad market, "few of you can afford to give up using Google because of these restrictions. But that doesn't mean you should have to accept them either."
She also criticized Google for not providing adequate protection of trademarks, a policy she claims benefits Google's bottom line.
Google's business practices have come under the scrutiny of antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe. The European Commission announced last month it was opening an antitrust probe into Google based on complaints from three firms, including the Microsoft subsidiary Ciao from Bing. U.S. and European Union regulators last month approved Microsoft's 10-year alliance with Yahoo, which is aimed at challenging Google's dominance in the online ad and search markets.
"In light of recent revelations, we're not surprised by these comments," Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said in an e-mail response, which referenced a recent Wall Street Journal article claiming Microsoft was behind an antitrust complaint filed against Google by a small Ohio firm. "But we work hard to compete fair and square, and our policies are intended to provide users with the most relevant results possible, and give advertisers the best possible return on their investment."
Kovacevich also said that "advertisers can easily export their ad campaign data out of AdWords into competing ad platforms like Microsoft and Yahoo. ... In fact, both Microsoft and Yahoo offer their advertisers explicit tips and tools for exporting Google campaign data into their platforms." On Microsoft's trademark criticisms, Kovacevich said Google tries to balance "the rights of trademark owners with the needs of consumers, who have more choices by seeing ads for competing products."
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