Newly exposed high-level emails reveal Google’s efforts to block Skyhook, Motorola deal

By on May 16, 2011 at 6:40 PM
Business May 16, 2011

A new series of emails were made public on Monday as a result of Skyhook Wireless’ lawsuit claiming Google interfered with a contract the LBS company had in place with cell phone maker Motorola Mobility. The emails, which were sent to and from numerous top executives at Google including CEO Larry Page and SVP of Mobile Andy Rubin, detail the company’s shock at losing out to Skyhook. The internal emails also reveal Google’s admission that Skyhook’s location product is better and more accurate than its solutions, and scratch the tip of the iceberg regarding how Google seemingly used its muscle to squash Motorola’s deal with Skyhook. Hit the break for screen shots of a few of the emails, and hit read link for a collection of what may be the most interesting emails of the bunch.

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  • Anonymous

    this is why enterprises shouldn’t use Android.

    • Anonymous

      Lol so you think stuff like this only happens at Google. HAHAHA you are truly blind if you think that. You dont think Large companies dont use their power to squeeze out our acquire the competition? Get real dude.  Not saying what Google did was right but get real if you think this only happens at Mountain view. the competition? Get real dude.  Not saying what Google did was right but get real if you think this only happens at Mountain view.

      • Anonymous

        Of course it happens other places. But those places don’t have the “don’t be evil” motto. Other companies don’t market themselves based on their “openness.” Etc, etc, etc. 

    • Anonymous

      Please do elaborate!

    • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

      Androids are perfect for business. Are you mental? DROID is far more secure than blackberry and especially anything from crApple. Custom roms and widgets are essential in the business world. You know how many times I get conpliments on my LauncherPRO set up and CM7? Christ. DROID is where its at!

      • AnonGuy

         Wow Norm…  You’re quite the troll…

      • Tony

         More secure than BlackBerry?  I wish your dads Trojan was more secure when the accident that blessed us with you occurred.

      • Anonymous

        Wow. That literally made lol.

        Funniest shit ever.

        Rofl

      • http://profiles.google.com/kstagg Kevin Stagg

        OK Norm, I’m a huge Android fan – but even I gotta say that “slick LauncherPRO and CM7 setups do not a secure phone make” !

        Probably the most secure phones out there are, believe it or not, blackberry. As far as most customizable – sure Android. :)  

      • Anonymous

        Norm is a troll. Just… don’t. 

      • Anonymous

        Norm you’re one of Google’s evil storm troopers aren’t you?

  • Anonymous

     don’t be evil

  • Anonymous

     Wow.  You would think the Google execs could wipe their hard drives to avoid this embarrassment.  I guess kudos to them for not covering up their shady shenanigans.  

    • Anonymous

      Remember that one of GMail’s goals was that you’d never delete your e-mail. 

    • http://www.digitalcents.net dagamer34

      It’s actually unlawful to delete company email. 

      • Cer

        That’s quite an overstatement.

      • Anonymous

         For publicly traded companies, yes. Which would include Google.

    • Cer

      After only producing a handful of Eric Schmidt’s emails in the Viacom/YouTube litigation without reprimand, I bet Google wasn’t planning on this.

  • http://twitter.com/LisbethJ Lisbeth Jimenez

    What happened to be “don’t be evil”

    • http://www.digitalcents.net dagamer34

      “Don’t be evil to consumers” != “Don’t be evil to businesses that threaten yours”. 

  • ChaChaCha

    seems like a normal business to business email to me.. 

  • No

     Why is this bad again?

    To me these emails show that they were outsold/outbid to provide a service and that they need to figure out why they lost the sale.  Seems commonplace to me?
    The fact they tried to stop orders to ensure their tech was also on board sounds shady, but not outrageous if its in the contract..

    • Anonymous

       Media blowing news out of proportion as usual.

  • http://www.facebook.com/cameronlee.ya Cameron Lee

     Anybody else notice the “Confidential Attorney’s Eyes Only” line?

  • Anonymous

     Openness!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

     I bet Apple would never do anything like this.  They are pure and magical. 

    • Anonymous

      The fact is, Apple hasn’t done anything like this. Google has.

      What’s your point, again?

  • RDiddy

     Google – quietly Evil.

  • http://ryanb.pip.verisignlabs.com/ Ryan B

     If any of the “reporters” actually read the email threads, on April 26, Arunesh wrote that Google’s service was significantly better… For all the hyperbole in this debate, there is no smoking gun.  Skyhook’s implementation, and how Motorola was going to implement NLP was in violation of the CCD.  The emails also indicate that perhaps some of the GPS fix issues that plagued the Samsung Galaxy S devices could have resulted from their use of Skyhook.  The greater risk, and why this was a ship-stop in the first place, was that it would fracture Android in a way that core functionality would be broken.  There are indeed business reasons that Google would want to keep Motorola from using Skyhook, but core to that is the CCD policy that prevents real Android fragmentation.

    • Anonymous

       While I am not familiar with that policy in detail, it is worth noting that the policy itself might in fact be illegal. I’m sure MS had a policy that “legally” required computer manufacturers to include IE the way they did.

      • http://ryanb.pip.verisignlabs.com/ Ryan B

        Microsoft’s antitrust lawsuits had more to do with it’s position of influence.  By the latest Gartner numbers,  68% of the devices were smartphones and Android makes up 53% of that market.  A majority by today’s figures, but more recently those titles were held by Apple and Nokia.  Google doesn’t have the +90% penetration that Microsoft held.

        Microsoft also sold Windows to OEMs at significantly discounted prices.  By providing Windows to Dell, Compaq, HP, Gateway 2000, and the like, their market dominance meant that Windows was everywhere… This is essentially the same playbook that Google is following with Android. Where Microsoft faltered, was in demonstrating that the browser was the evolution of the desktop OS.  From Windows 95 to Windows 98, the biggest change was that IE was the OS.  Everything from the help system to Windows Explorer was running MSHTML.  There were even options to change applications from things you double-clicked to launch to single-click links, with underscores to further drive that point.  Windows was significantly ahead of its time.

        Instead, Netscape and others complained about IE the browser being so tightly woven into the Windows fabric, and saw the web browser as only an application that you could use to visit web sites.  As a result, I’d argue that innovation was stifled more significantly than HTML4 standards.  Many of the extensions that Microsoft added to IE, seen as damaging to web standards, were introduced specifically to enhance the idea of the browser as the OS.

        Today, Google’s Chrome OS is what we might have had for Windows Me or Windows XP if it weren’t for the antitrust rulings.  The web wasn’t mature enough back then to really support cloud based services, but Microsoft was moving that direction almost 15 years ago.

    • Anonymous

      Are you a Google employee or the gay lover of the CEO which is it dude?

  • Anonymous

    The Great Evil Empire at its very best but hey they’re the minds behind Android the platform that supposedly embraces free open and everything good.

    YEAH RIGHT

  • Anonymous

    Of course BGR.. of course. 

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