Washington — The more things stay the same, the more they change -- as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. demonstrate in their brewing struggle for Internet dominance.
For more than a decade, Microsoft has made fending off antitrust complaints seem as much a part of its big product rollouts as bug testing is for other software companies.
AOL and RealNetworks Inc., for instance, squared off against the software giant over the way it bundled software and services into its dominant Windows operating system. Netscape's complaints triggered an antitrust trial that ended with Microsoft operating under federal supervision.
Now Google is taking its turn.
The Internet search leader has warned U.S. and European antitrust officials that a feature of Microsoft's new version of Internet Explorer could stifle competition in the multibillion-dollar search engine market.
Given Microsoft's history, the concerns draw attention.
"Just because they've killed a couple of people already, you can't automatically convict them of a third murder," said Robert H. Lande, a University of Baltimore law professor who has closely followed Microsoft's antitrust cases. "Of course, if you're Google, you're going to be nervous. They fear what Microsoft will do to them is exactly what Microsoft did to Netscape, to RealNetworks."
In those instances, Microsoft used its lock on operating systems to dethrone the technology companies that dominated Web browsers (Netscape) and streaming media (RealNetworks).
But Google is a much different rival.
"Netscape was a marginally profitable company with $500 million in revenues. It did not have the resources to fight Microsoft on Microsoft's turf," said David B. Yoffie, a Harvard University business professor. "Google is a $6-billion company with extraordinary profitability."
Plus, Google has more than $9 billion in cash and is increasing its share of the search market at the expense of Microsoft and Yahoo Inc. Some analysts also say Google engages in some of the same sort of domineering behavior for which it faults Microsoft.
"They are not sitting on their laurels," Rob Enderle, a technology analyst with the Enderle Group in San Jose, said of Google. "They're incredibly aggressive."
Microsoft itself is different from what it was a decade ago.
