Google co-founder Sergey Brin has called Microsoft’s US$44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo! “unnerving”, claiming that a successful acquisition will stifle innovation on the Internet. Speaking at a function for Google’s Lunar X private robotic spacecraft competition, Brin reiterated Google’s view that the deal could violate antitrust laws and harm Internet users. “The Internet has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies,” Brin told The Associated Press after the event. “And when you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top websites, and can be used to manipulate stuff in various ways. I think that’s unnerving.”

Earlier this week Mobile Business Briefing reported that Microsoft has urged Yahoo! to ‘take a hard look’ at the offer after the Internet company initially rejected it, arguing it undervalued Yahoo!’s assets. Yahoo! is reported to have been in recent independent talks with News Corp, AOL and Google itself in an effort to try and fend off Microsoft’s acquisition attempts.