Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Vice President Jonathan Tinter has blamed Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)(NASDAQ:GOOG)-owned Google’s deals with smartphone makers for hurting Bing’s growth. Bing is MSFT’s web search engine. Reuters reported Tinter’s remarks as he testified in the ongoing antitrust trial against Google by the Justice Department.
Let’s delve deeper.
Tinter’s Testimony
In his testimony, Tinter said Bing faced challenges securing default status on smartphones sold in the U.S. This restricted Bing from scaling and resulted in a lower-quality search experience.
For those unfamiliar with the context, Google is currently entangled in an antitrust trial. The Justice Department accused the company of paying billions of dollars to smartphone makers like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics (GB:SMSN), wireless service providers such as AT&T (NYSE:T), and browser developers to secure the default search engine status, a move that had a detrimental effect on its competitors.
Google asserts that its agreements with smartphone makers and other parties do not impose restrictions on them to promote competing entities. The company added that its partners opt for Google due to its high quality.
Coming back to Tinter, he added that Bing failed to secure the pre-installed default search engine status on any Android or Apple devices in the U.S. over the past decade.
In the meantime, let’s examine what the Wall Street analysts recommend for GOOGL stock.
Is Alphabet a Good Buy Now?
Analysts’ outlook on Alphabet remains unchanged despite the ongoing antitrust trial. Wall Street is bullish about GOOGL stock as the strength in the Search business, AI (artificial intelligence), and reacceleration in the Cloud segment provide a solid platform for growth.
With 31 Buy and four Hold recommendations, Alphabet stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating. Analysts’ average 12-month price target of $150.67 implies an upside potential of 13.88% from current levels.
