Microsoft is accusing Google of funding a proxy campaign designed to discredit it in the eyes of regulators and policymakers in the European Union and beyond. in a blog post Written by Rima Alaily, the company's deputy general counsel, Microsoft claims that the search giant has gone to “extensive efforts to obfuscate its participation, funding and control” of the Open Cloud Coalition, a group of “cloud service providers.” , industry leaders and stakeholders.” which says it is committed to championing a “fair, competitive and open cloud services industry across the UK and EU”.
According to Microsoft, Google hired a lobbying agency in Europe to create and operate the organization, and recruited “a handful” of European cloud providers to appear as the public face of the soon-to-launch campaign. The company says Google plans to “present itself as a secondary member” of the Open Cloud Coalition, rather than its leader and main funder. As an example, Microsoft points out a contracting document (PDF link) that doesn't mention the group's alleged affiliation with Google. It also points to the involvement of Nicky Steward, who co-wrote a complaint against Microsoft and amazon Web Services as part of the UK's ongoing antitrust investigation into the cloud services market.
“It remains to be seen what Google offered smaller businesses to get them on board, whether in terms of cash or discounts,” Microsoft says. It adds that one of the cloud providers Google approached about joining the Open Cloud Coalition claims the company will lead the group to attack “Microsoft's cloud computing business in the European Union and the United Kingdom.”
Engadget was unable to independently verify Microsoft's claims.
“We have been very public about our concerns with Microsoft's cloud licenses. We and many others believe that Microsoft's anti-competitive practices entrap customers and create negative downstream effects that impact cybersecurity, innovation and choice,” he said. a Google spokesperson told Engadget, pointing us to four separate technology/safety-security/csrb-report-google-recommendations/__;!!Op6eflyXZCqGR5I!A5Rh_tjoYBlp_Ocyszi3R-lXhJ_aDuXct8YzOUWgHL2FI6VqGlzi_L-j_QzvgAKcRwZn-vjRV6xB2569sLrahH8I$” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:blog;cpos:6;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>blog publications on the matter.
As for why Google would potentially go to great lengths to fund an astroturf campaign, Microsoft points to the recent increase in regulatory scrutiny of the company's search, advertising, and mobile app store businesses. By Microsoft's count, Google faces at least 24 antitrust investigations around the world, including a Justice Department investigation that could involve a possible breakup of the company.
“Never in the last two decades have Google's search, digital advertising and mobile app store monopolies faced such a concerted and determined threat as they do today.” Alaily writes. “At a time when Google should be focusing on addressing legitimate issues about its business, it is instead devoting its vast resources to tearing others down. “It is disappointing that, with the foundation of their business at risk, they have sought to bolster their cloud computing service – Google Cloud Platform – by attacking ours.”
The accusations come after Google reportedly attempted to derail an antitrust agreement that Microsoft had negotiated with Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE). In July, Bloomberg wrote that Google had offered the group 470 million euros to continue with the litigation against its rival, a CISPE overture finally rejected.
As digital advertising revenue growth has slowed for Google in recent years, the company has increasingly turned to the cloud market to compensate. In 2023, Google's cloud business broke even for the first time. Most recently, the unit generated a profit of $900 million in the first quarter of this year.
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