Irony: Microsoft and AT&T accuse Google of monopolistic practices
For some background, Google just bought DoubleClick for $3.1Bil. They were in a bidding war with Microsoft and AT&T for the online advertising company and it was expected to sell for around $2Bil. Google basically just upped the bidding 50% over value to ensure their getting the company. Obviously, Microsoft and AT&T didn't like this practice.
From toptechnews.com
Google's one-two-three punch might be too much for the competition's tastes. Some industry watchers expect Microsoft and AT&T, which were also vying for DoubleClick, to ask the Department of Justice to scrutinize the Google-DoubleClick deal in an antitrust probe.
Am I the only one that finds this funny? Two companies that were actually found to be monopolies by the U.S. Government complaining that Google is a monopoly. I understand this is a new AT&T but the front page of their website states "AT&T, BellSouth, and Cingular are joining together to form AT&T Unity." Seems like the old Ma Bell is back.
Don't get me wrong. I don't actually believe Google follows their motto "Don't be evil" but I do believe they're smarter about it. They're actually doing some pretty cool things in their labs and are well respected in the CS community. Sounds like the old guard doesn't like it very much.