Microsoft accuses Google of shadow campaigns, slams new astroturf group

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has accused Google, owned by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), of running shadow campaigns to discredit it with regulators and distract from the intense scrutiny it is facing around the world.

“This week an astroturf group organized by Google is launching,” Rima Alaily, Microsoft’s (MSFT) deputy general counsel, wrote in a blog post referring to the Open Cloud Coalition. “It is designed to discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public.”

Alaily claimed that Google went through “great lengths” to obscure its funding and control of the group by recruiting European cloud providers to serve as the organization’s public face. “It remains to be seen what Google offered smaller companies to join, either in terms of cash or discounts.”

The group’s launch comes a month after Google filed an antitrust complaint in Europe against Microsoft (MSFT), accusing it of unfair licensing practices related to Azure cloud services.

The complaint followed Microsoft’s settlement with European cloud infrastructure group CISPE over its licensing practices. Google reportedly tried to offer the group’s members $500M in cash and credits to reject the settlement and pursue litigation.

“Wisely, they declined. And, instead, the members endorsed the resolution we developed together,” Alaily noted.

She also alleged that Google has been paying commentators to discredit Microsoft (MSFT), and has attacked Microsoft on topics ranging from cybersecurity to its China business.

This is likely to distract from the reckoning in store for Google, Alaily claimed, as it faces at least 24 antitrust investigations around the world.