SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A Google Inc. executive defended the company's proposed search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. in prepared congressional testimony released Monday, contesting the prevalent notion that it will only expand the market leader's already considerable influence. Microsoft Corp.'s top attorney meanwhile countered in his own prepared testimony that the deal "would effectively create a monopoly in search advertising."

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith and a representative from Yahoo are expected to testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday to examine the proposed partnership between Google and Yahoo. The partnership, announced in June, "will not increase Google's share of search traffic, contrary to some claims," Drummond said in his testimony.

"We think we'll make money, of course," Drummond said, even as he characterized the arrangement as one under which Google fills in search areas in which Yahoo may be lacking, rather than one that bites into the No. 2 search player's already dwindling portion of the market.

MarketWatch [marketwatch.com]