Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has taken the high road as more and more antitrust regulators start to display an interest in Google's practices. Rather than cheer on the investigations - or instigate new ones - Bartz has stayed mostly neutral on the matter, perhaps even supporting her biggest rival a little.

Bartz spoke to reporters earlier this week at Yahoo's headquarters, and according to Alexei Oreskovic, she said with respect to both Google's situation and Yahoo's partnership with Microsoft, "I think for the most part the markets work and I'd rather be competitive in the market."

Then here's another interesting comment: in response to Italy's decision to hold Google execs responsible for a video shown on YouTube, Bartz said with regards to Europe, "The countries are kind of weaving their own stories on some of this stuff."

Bartz's remarks probably won't help Google in any material way; regulators won't back off on her say-so or anything like that. Still, considering that Yahoo could probably have caused more problems for Google (remember that Google believes Microsoft is behind several complaints), this is a classy move on its CEO's part.

Google, meanwhile, isn't facing any formal antitrust probes at this time, but a proper skirmish is looking more likely with almost every passing week.

source:searchnewz