Microsoft looks to fill the void if Google exits Australia

The software giant is confident its search engine Bing can fill the gap if Google pulls key services, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says

Microsoft's Bing search engine page on a computer screen in Beijing. The Australian prime minister on Monday said Microsoft is confident it could fill the gap if Google stops its search engine services in Australia. AP PhotoShow less

Software giant Microsoft is confident its search engine Bing can fill the gap in Australia if Google pulls its search over required payments to media outlets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.

Australia has introduced laws that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets whose content links drive traffic to their platforms.

However, the big technology firms have called the laws unworkable and said last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations went ahead. Those services include Google's search engine, which has 94 per cent of the country's search market, according to industry data.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has since spoken with Mr Morrison about the new rules, and on Monday, Mr Morrison said the software company was ready to grow the presence of its search tool Bing, the distant No. 2 player.

"I can tell you, Microsoft's pretty confident, when I spoke to Satya," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without giving further details of the conversation.

"We just want the rules in the digital world to be the same that exist in the real world, in the physical world," Mr Morrison added.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion took place but declined to comment because the company was not directly involved in the laws.

"We recognise the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and we recognise the challenges the media sector has faced over many years through changing business models and consumer preferences," the spokeswoman said.

A Google representative was not immediately available for comment.

A day earlier, Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg had requested a meeting over the law, and that they had talked, but that he would not back down on the change.