Google’s Senior Vice President, David Drummond has issued a damning response to Microsoft’s bid to buy out search-rival, Yahoo! in an official statement which should serve to fan the flames, describing Microsoft’s influence as ‘Illegal’ and ‘Inappropriate’.

Using the Official Google Blog as a platform, Drummond says..

“While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.”

Continuously referring to the offer of $44bn as a ‘hostile take-over’, Google are pulling no punches in this war of words, but how they intend to respond practically, should the aquisition take place, remains to be seen.

Drummond continues..

“This hostile bid was announced on Friday, so there is plenty of time for these questions to be thoroughly addressed. We take Internet openness, choice and innovation seriously. They are the core of our culture. We believe that the interests of Internet users come first — and should come first — as the merits of this proposed acquisition are examined and alternatives explored.”

The full article continues at.. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/yahoo-and-future-of-internet.html