Bloomberg is running a very good piece on the long standing industry prediction that Google will be the next Microsoft. The article delves deeply into the pending confirmation of the Obama-nominated Anti-Trust chief Christine A. Barney. Ms. Barney was personally handpicked by Pres. Obama a couple of months ago.
But before Pres. Obama asked Ms. Barney to lead the controversial Anti-Trust agency, Varney was known to have a strong conviction that Google is out to replace Microsoft. Especially since the Internet trend is leaning towards “cloud computing.” And we all know that Google has already establish a good foundation for its “cloud computing service”, thanks to Google Docs, and its seamless integration of various online products such as Gmail, Google Maps, Google Friend Connect, among other services.
For Ms. Barney however, this is all well and good if only Google has not “acquired a monopoly” in the Internet online advertising. Ms. Barney wants to tackle this issue once her confirmation becomes final. She also promised to strictly implement the anti-trust law.
So, it would seem that Google should expect harder times up ahead which shall start once Ms. Barney gets the anti-trust chief position.
Is there are reason for Google to be afraid? Looking into Google’s previous behavior when confronted with monopoly and anti-trust issues, I don’t think that anyone in Google’s camp are a bit worried about Ms. Barney’s appointment, I still think that Google can survive her probing once she become the official Ant-Trust chief.