A Google executive told a Senate hearing last month that it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government goes ahead with a draft law to make tech giants pay for news content.
Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine page. Pic/AP
Australia’s prime minister said on Monday that Microsoft is confident it can fill the void if Google carries out its threat to remove its search engine from Australia.
A Google executive told a Senate hearing last month that it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government goes ahead with a draft law to make tech giants pay for news content.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he has spoken to Microsoft CEO 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, he 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.”
Although Bing is Australia’s second most popular search engine, it has only a 3.6 per cent market share, according to web analytics service Statcounter. Google says it has 95 per cent.
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