Steve Ballmer Promises To Bury Google - Can He Do It?

September 2nd, 2005 • Related • Filed Under

Searchblog has an interesting extract of a transcript that supposedly comes from an ex-Microsoft engineer, Mark Lucovsky, in the ongoing lawsuit between Google and Microsoft, over Google’s hiring of Kai-Fu Lee. The statement reads:

“Prior to joining Google, I set up a meeting on or about November 11, 2004 with Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss my planned departure….At some point in the conversation Mr. Ballmer said: “Just tell me it’s not Google.” I told him it was Google.

At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office. Mr. Ballmer then said: “F****** Eric Schmidt is a f****** pussy. I’m going to f******* bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to f****** kill Google.” ….

Thereafter, Mr. Ballmer resumed trying to persuade me to stay….Among other things, Mr. Ballmer told me that “Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.”

It made me think - Can Ballmer deliver on his promise? Who will win out of Google and Microsoft? I have to say that in the long-run, I think Microsoft will win. Although Google have some great services and is trying to extend its influence beyond search, its other products like Google Talk, Google Earth and Blogger are not class-leading products and face lots of competition. Even its core search product faces lots of competition and is vulnerable to users switching to other products.

Microsoft doesn’t face these issues with its core products. It has such a monopoly over Operating Systems and with Microsoft Office, which are installed on nearly every PC, that it will have endless opportunities to fight Google and direct users towards its own products, before they’ve even fired up a browser.

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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