14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is no longer part of consumer advocacy group FairSearch that pursued several legal actions against search giant Google, as the company silently decided to give up on its participation in December.
A report by recode and citing a Microsoft spokesperson reveals that the world’s number one software company removed its financial support for the group last month.
“We routinely evaluate our participation in industry organizations and decided not to continue our membership in FairSearch,” the Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying.
FairSearch is the organization behind several lawsuits started against Google in the United States and Europe, including the current one that has the company investigated for antitrust issues on the Old Continent.
The organization announces that, despite Microsoft’s leaving the group, its activity will continue just as before.
“While we appreciate Microsoft’s contribution while a member, the work of our coalition continues unabated,” an organization representative also added.
Microsoft’s gentleman attitude
While Microsoft previously made a hobby out of picking on Google, complaining about every single unfair practice that the search giant turned to in order to promote its business, the company has completely changed it attitude when the new CEO Satya Nadella took over the reins.
Under Steve Ballmer’s guidance, Microsoft launched Scroogled, an anti-Google campaign that was specifically supposed to bring in the spotlight all the unfair methods that the Mountain View-based search firm used to serve ads to users.
When Nadella took over the leadership team at Microsoft, this whole anti-Google effort suddenly stopped, with Scroogled being slowly discontinued, and the company focusing more on its own business than on what its rivals were doing.
This decision to leave the FairSearch group could be part of the very same attitude that Microsoft seems to embrace these days, as the gentleman approach seems to mirror exactly Satya Nadella’s vision for the business.