PM MORRISON IN TALKS WITH MICROSOFT OVER BING AS GOOGLE EYES AUSTRALIAN EXIT

Mon 01 February 2021:

The Australian prime minister said on Monday that Microsoft was confident that it could fill the void if Google carried out its threat to remove its search engine from Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had since spoken to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella about its search engine Bing filling the space.

“I can tell you, Microsoft’s pretty confident” that Australians would not be worse off, Morrison told the National Press Club of Australia.

“These are big technology companies and what’s important to Australia, I think, is that we set the rules that are right for our people,” Morrison said.

“Having a news environment in this country that is one that is sustainable and is supported commercially, then this is vital to how democracies function,” he added.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since spoken with Morrison about the new rules, the tech company told Reuters, and on Monday, Morrison said the software company was ready to grow the presence of its search tool Bing, the distant No. 2 player.

“I can tell you, Microsoft’s pretty confident, when I spoke to Satya,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without giving further detail of the conversation.

“We just want the rules in the digital world to be the same that exist in the real world, in the physical world,” Morrison added.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion took place but declined to comment, because the company was not directly involved in the laws.

“We recognize the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and we recognize the challenges the media sector has faced over many years through changing business models and consumer preferences,” the spokeswoman said.

Australia has introduced laws that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets whose content links drive traffic to their platforms.

However, the Big Tech firms have called the laws unworkable and said last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations went ahead. Those services include Google’s search engine, which has 94 percent of the country’s search market, according to industry data.

Although Bing is Australia’s second most popular search engine, it takes only 3.7% of the market share, The Australian newspaper reported. Alphabet’s GOOGL, -1.39% GOOG, -1.47% Google says it takes 95%.