Salesforce Forced Huge Compromises By Microsoft For EU LinkedIn Approval

Salesforce has been a significant obstacle for Microsoft recently over the latter’s acquisition of LinkedIn. The marketing company filed an anti-competitive charge against Microsoft to the EU Commission, which has delayed implementation of any plans by the tech giant with regards to the social media site for professionals. Microsoft was forced to make quite a few compromises just to get things over with, but they might not be enough.

Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26 billion, which is a lot of money funneled into a project that is now stagnant thanks to the interference of Salesforce. As a result, Microsoft has been desperately offering several concessions just to have the EU approve the acquisition and for the social network to be monetized immediately, PC World reports.

Among the compromises offered is the inclusion of add-ins by competitors to Microsoft’s Outlook software. This would allow other companies to make their offers, accounts, or products visible to users if they view profiles.

Unfortunately, simply allowing services to be seen through the email client by Microsoft is not considered much of an offer in terms of value. This is especially apparent when looking at the sheer scale of profitability that could be gained via LinkedIn, as is the case with other social media sites.

More than that, Microsoft already has an open platform for third-party companies to have add-ins, to begin with. So saying that they will do the same with Outlook doesn’t seem that valuable.

It might be easy to see Salesforce’s attempts at blocking the implementation of LinkedIn in the EU as a case of sour grapes, but the simple fact remains that the company stands to lose a lot of money once the acquisition pulls through. If Microsoft decides to completely shut off third-party companies from accessing LinkedIn’s user base, it could monopolize all the profits generated, The Verge reports. This is where the anti-competition charge comes in.