News Corp Plans More Growth To Combat Google

News Corporation deputy COO James Murdoch has used a keynote interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to argue that the global media corporation he works for must expand if it is to compete with “monolithic” companies like Google and Apple.

Responding to questioning about News Corp’s imminent takeover of BSkyB, he hinted at a decade of expansion for News Corp: “When you look at the competitive set in the all-media marketplace, when you know you have monolithic brands like Google, Apple… Telefonica, Deutsche Telecom, Verizon… there are much, much bigger beasts than a News Corp or a Time Warner.”

Interviewed by WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, Murdoch said  the challenge is: “How do we make sure we can compete at scale globally with these new players (while still being) quick and creative and risk-taking.”

Questioned on the economy, Murdoch said: “In the last  4-5 weeks, the mood has not been great. Hopefully companies are in good enough shape after the shock of 2008-2009. We are in a better position. We feel healthy about the business but nervous about the economy.”

Meanwhile, Google has confirmed that US regulators are planning to launch a formal investigation into the search engine giant’s domination of the online ad market.