Microsoft on Thursday formally joined the EU antitrust complaint against Google, accusing the search giant of restricting access to YouTube, content from book publishers, advertiser data, and more.
Specifically, Microsoft filed a complaint with the European Commission as part of its ongoing investigation into whether Google violated European competition law.
"Google has done much to advance its laudable mission to 'organize the world's information,' but we're concerned by a broadening pattern of conduct aimed at stopping anyone else from creating a competitive alternative," Brad Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, wrote in a blog post.
The debate dates back to February 2010, when Google announced that the European Commission had received complaints from three companies about "whether Google is doing anything to choke off competition or hurt our users and partners." Those companies were Foundem, ejustice.fr, and Ciao! from Bing. Julia Holtz, Google's competition counsel, said at the time that two of the companies - Ciao! from Bing, a Microsoft acquisition; and Foundem - had ties to rival Microsoft. Ciao was purchased by Microsoft in 2008. Last month, 1plusV, a parent company of eJustice.fr, joined the complaint.
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