Bing! Microsoft commits to invest in Aus if Google withdraws

February 3, 2021 1:53

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith have publicly announced that Microsoft would fill the void left in the Australian market, were Google to proceed with its plan to withdraw as a result of the News Media Bargaining Code proceeding in its current form.

According to a statement from US headquartered Microsoft, Nadella and Smith spoke last week with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about the government’s proposed code to regulate payments between digital platforms and Australian-based news businesses.

Digital Content Planning data released by Nielsen last week, and endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that Microsoft, which owns Bing, Hotmail, LinkedIn and online video platform Teams, was the third top owner of digital platforms in use, by the 21 million Australian internet users included in the research.

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Olivia Kruimel

Olivia Kruimel was the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.