• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 29, 2024

Microsoft has accused Google of funding groups that allegedly conduct biased studies and shadow campaigns to discredit Microsoft and mislead antitrust enforcers and the public.

Rima Alaily, Microsoft CVP and deputy general council, alleged that an astroturf group called the Open Cloud Coalition will launch this week paid for by Google. The organization will make it appear as if a handful of European cloud providers launched the group, but Alaily, in the post, claims Google is behind the organization.

Wikipedia defines "astroturfing" as the deceptive practice of hiding sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization such as political, advertising, religious, or public relations to make it appear as though it comes from, and is supported by, unsolicited grassroots participants. 

“Google’s tactics, unfortunately, go beyond creating astroturf lobbying organizations,” she wrote. “They’re also speaking out in their own name in disingenuous ways and putting forward paid commentators to discredit us. Why? I suspect much has to do with the fact that Google is facing a reckoning.”

Alaily pointed to Department of Justice accusations against Google search, digital advertising, and mobile app store monopolies, and explained that never before has Google faced such a "concerted and determined threat" to its businesses as it does today. 

Google execs have a different opinion. “We’ve been very public about our concerns with Microsoft’s cloud licensing,” a Google Cloud spokesperson told MediaPost. “We and many others believe that Microsoft’s anticompetitive practices lock-in customers and create negative downstream effects that impact cybersecurity, innovation, and choice.”

Microsoft estimates Google has at least 24 antitrust investigations ongoing against it in leading digital markets worldwide. The company beleives that during this time, when Google should focus on addressing legitimate questions about its business, it is instead turning resources toward tearing down others.

The statement from Microsoft is long and accusatory, full of details that outline other areas where Google has attacked Microsoft behind the scenes. 

Alaily wrote about Google as a main funder of the U.S.-based Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, which has levied attacks on Microsoft's cloud computing business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the EU, she wrote. The organization is run by a lobbyist for Google in Washington D.C., but its affiliation isn’t disclosed publicly by the organization.

Other areas include pitching cybersecurity stories to reporters that suggest questions to congressional offices ahead of hearings, and distributing documents in major capitals around the world. Some documents, the post claims, are misleading and filled with inaccuracies. 

Microsoft's claims are only one instance. There are others that relate to suppressing articles in Google Search and YouTube.

Small publishers have made the claim, along with many in the Republican party that Google has suppressed important stories such as the interview between podcast host Joe Rogan and former President Donald Trump. 

On X, people have posted that YouTube does not return the link to the full interview between Joe Rogan and Trump no matter how many times they try to search for it, although it has had a huge amount of views.