WASHINGTON – In a wide-ranging talk on communications and the Internet, Google cofounder Larry Page said today that his company and Yahoo could structure a long-term advertising deal that does not raise antitrust concerns and protects Yahoo’s autonomy.
Page was also explicit about why Google opposes any deal between Microsoft and Yahoo, saying it would curb innovation in areas such as instant messaging and create a near-monopoly in communications.
“If you put 90 percent of communications in one company, that’s really a big risk, especially one (Microsoft) that has a history of doing bad stuff,” Page told a forum held by the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank.
Microsoft recently ended its bid to buy Yahoo, but is now floating ideas to buy part of Yahoo’s operations to counter Google’s dominance in search and advertising. Google and Yahoo are exploring a long-term arrangement, with Google ads running with Yahoo search.
“There are ways to structure a deal with Yahoo that are reasonable, for us and for Yahoo to remain independent,” Page said. “We would support that.”
The contrast between e-mailing and instant messaging shows the danger of a system that is not open said. Users can e-mail freely because the system developed that way in universities, but instant messaging was first used in companies with closed systems.
“We don’t like that. We think that’s stupid,” Page said.
Page came to Washington to explain Google’s growing involvement in the debate over how to use unused TV airwaves, or so-called “white spaces,” to make broadband service more accessible and affordable.
Page called for opening up greater use of the wireless spectrum as a way of providing Internet access to more Americans. He described unused spectrum as “wifi on steroids,” and said that improving access, and opening up cellular networks to more services, was not a technological problem, but a political and regulatory issue.
The Federal Communications Commission recently auctioned some of the unused spectrum, and Page met with two FCC commissioners, Kevin Martin and Michael Kopps, and several members of Congress to urge that unlicensed wireless devices have access to unused spectrum controlled by broadcasters.
Page said that the warning by broadcasters and wireless microphone users that Internet devices would interfere with their signals is largely unfounded.
But the Google co-founder also readily acknowledged that his theme of openness, and his pitch to make high-speed Internet more available to more people, would help Google’s bottom line.
“That translates into more revenues for us. If you have 10 percent more connectivity in the United States, that’s 10 percent more revenue for us and that’s a big number,” he said.
Page also stressed Google’s goal of organizing the world’s information and making it more accessible to more people. He talked about visiting a classroom in a poor village in Uganda, where one-third of the kids had used cell phones but none had used the Internet.
“Maybe the reputation of our country in the world would go up if we can provide communications at low cost,” he said.
Page’s appearance in Washington highlighted Google’s growing presence in the capital. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is about to become chairman of the board of the New America Foundation, which seeks innovative, nonideological solutions to problems.
Meanwhile in Las Vegas, a Google executive said Google won’t follow rival Microsoft in offering rebates to people who use its site to shop.
“We have no plans to pay users to use our products,” Nicholas Fox, director of business product management for ads quality and bidding, said at an investor conference. “Our fundamental belief is we should compete by building a great experience.”
Page’s speech can be seen at www.newamerica.net. Frank Davies can be reached at fdavies@mercurynews.com or 202-662-8921.
