Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is no stranger to facing anti-trust and competition issues in Europe and elsewhere.
This week however, Microsoft is going on the offensive, filing a complaint against Google in the European Union over alleged anti-competitive actions taken by Google’s search engine. Google has already been under investigation in Europe over alleged anti-competitive practices in search markets. The investigation has been ongoing since late November.
Among the original complaints were allegations that Google lowered the page ranking of other search engines. Additionally, the complainants claimed that Google purposely downgraded the quality score for competitors’ paid search ads.
“We’re not surprised that Microsoft has done this, since one of their subsidiaries was one of the original complainants,” a Google spokesperson said in an email to InternetNews.com.