Microsoft have stated that they are never going to actively threaten to leave the country. This comes after Google have made suggestions that they could pull all of their search engines from the country. Google made the threat when a new law was proposed by the Australian government, who have said they plan on forcing the giant to pay any news publishers so that they have the right to link to their content.
The State of Tech
When you look at things such as online poker in UK, you will soon see that it is widely available in Australia as well. The main reason for this is because a lot of sites have extensions which allow people from other countries to access whatever content they have. This is great and it shows how far tech has come. If Google were to pull their site from the country however then it would make it very hard for people to come across sites, whether they are casino sites or even just sites to browse. This may also have a huge impact on Australian businesses as well.
Microsoft
Microsoft have luckily stated that they never plan to pull their search engine from the country, but Google would consider it. Microsoft are committed to trying to support the national security of the country and they are also trying to ensure economic success as well. Microsoft will likely capitalise if there was any kind of fallout between both Google and Australia. Google are dominating the search engine system right now and they have around 95% shares in the market. Bing just has 3.6%. There are other parties trying to reduce Google’s market share too, namely Apple. Google and their Silicon Valley neighbours, Apple, have had a deal for years which ensures Google is the default search engine on their devices. However, recent scrutiny of this deal, and Apple’s interest in rivalling Google’s service, has led Apple to push the development of their search engine further. Microsoft won’t be the only tech companies licking their lips at the Google-Australia drama.
Smith has come out to say that he and the CEO of Microsoft have spoken with Scott Morrison, who is the PM for Australia. They have stated that the country is not going to respond to the threats but at the end of the day, they are going to do everything they can to ensure that digital platforms such as Google are paying for news as it is vital to the democracy of the country in general.
Public Interest
Microsoft have stated that they do in fact recognise that public journalism is facing challenges and that this tends to stem from the digital era. It is changing the way that business models operate, and it is also going to affect evolving customer preferences too. Microsoft have long supported the idea of Australian competition and they are also doing whatever they can to ensure that the whole movement is supported in the best possible way. Who knows what the future holds, but right now, things are not certain for any party.
