Can't They Both Lose?

Given the propensity for Microsoft and Ticketmaster to be involved in lawsuits, I imagine it was only a matter of time before one sued the other. Time has done its part, and we now have the battle of the year.

Two companies you love to hate, positioned at the nexus of information and entertainment, are at odds over the Web. I can hear the buzzwords and cliches already. But what is the lawsuit about?

Here's the skinny. Microsoft has tried to enter the Internet infotainment listing and city guide business with a series of sites called "Sidewalk". They started with Seattle Sidewalk, listing local concert dates, sporting events, and local goings-on.

Microsoft opened talks with TicketMaster to allow visitors to purchase tickets directly from Sidewalk.

Hard as it may be to imagine between these two happy-go-lucky companies, the talks fell apart.

Nevertheless, Microsoft put in a link from certain areas of Sidewalk to the ticket buying areas of TicketMaster's website. I imagine most companies would be thrilled if Microsoft, or any site, for that mattter, pointed users their way. This joy could only increase if users were herded directly towards a purchase page.

That Micro$oft, of all companies, did this after talks broke down, and without any kickback, should be heralded as some sort of minor miracle. Instead, TicketMaster is upset that the link exists.

Why? Because it bypasses the advertising users would see if they stumbled into the site from their homepage before getting to the actual purchase sites. This means less people see the ads, which are then worth less.

I think TicketMaster is out of their mind for bringing this lawsuit.

Foremost, the web is not a shopping mall. As much as you might like everyone to come in through the front door, plenty of people get to your site from a servant's entrance. This is a good thing.

I can't control that, at least not easily, nor do I care to. I'm happy you dropped by, no matter how you get here. To help you out if you show up right here, I link to the index at the bottom of the page. Webmasters who do care, however, can force you to use the front door. That's how pay-sites like Encyclopedia Brittanica work. If TicketMaster really wants to stop Microsoft from bypassing the ads, they can do it.

Yet I have to think that they are missing the point here. Ticketmaster makes money primarily by scalping tickets, not selling website ads. Why fight for such small margins when your opponent was doing your bottom line a favor?

So I think TicketMaster is wasting their time: entering a long court battle to ask a court to curtail behavior they could eliminate by themselves, but probably should not in the first place. I still hope they win, though.

After all, they are suing Microsoft.

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Last Updated: 4 June 1997
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