Google wishes luck to Yahoo and Microsoft

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt wished rivals Microsoft and Yahoo luck in competing on Web search but took aim at the software giant for what he called a "history" of trying to "restrict consumer choice."

"Microsoft is working very hard to build a competitive search engine," the CEO of Internet search king Google told a Morgan Stanley technology conference in San Francisco.

Asked about the prospects of a Yahoo-Microsoft tie-up on search, Schmidt said: "I do not know if that scenario will occur.

"We did our best attempt at a deal with Yahoo, and as you know we had to cancel it at the very last minute," he said in a reference to a Google-Yahoo search advertising partnership that was rejected by US anti-trust regulators.

"So we wish them the best of luck," Schmidt said. "The problem has to do with Microsoft's ability to use its Windows monopoly to restrict consumer choice."

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