AOHell: Google Sells Soul to Stop Microsoft

AOHell: Google Sells Soul to Stop Microsoft: "However, Google swept in with a last minute offer that scuttled Microsoft's plans. Google will pay Time Warner $1 billion for a 5 percent stake in AOL, and will keep the AOL search business as a result. The deal, which was done solely to hurt Microsoft, will not financially benefit Google in any perceptible way. But as part of the deal, Google will do that one thing they've always promised not to do: It will present AOL-sponsored search results on its main search results page, complete with the AOL logo. That's right, folks. Google has sold out. And it did so to harm a competitor that has less than one third its marketshare.
There are two key take-aways here, from what I can see. First, Google is not the trustworthy corporate giant that some people imagine, though the company's track record, including its close work with the totalitarian government in China, should have made that clear already. Second, Google considers Microsoft a huge threat, despite the fact that the Redmond company has yet to make any serious inroads with Internet search."