Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaily has outlined Google’s efforts to influence European regulators with the launch of the Open Cloud Coalition – a group of ten cloud companies campaigning for a fairer and more competitive cloud landscape in Britain, Europe and beyond.
Alaily criticized Google for forming an “astroturf” lobby group, which she said is part of the company’s broader effort to undermine its competitors.
In addition, Alaily alleged that Google organized the group as a front to discredit Microsoft’s business practices in Europe, which recently came under fire from antitrust regulators.
Microsoft accuses Google of running ‘shadow campaigns’
Alaily alleged that Google has recruited smaller European cloud providers as the public face of the coalition to obscure its involvement and shift regulatory focus from its own business practices, noting that the company has gone to great lengths to act as a secondary member of the coalition to appear.
The group consists of international companies such as Centerprise International, Civo and Gigas, and domestic companies such as ControlPlane, DTP Group, Prolinx, Pulsant, Clairo and Room 101.
Google Cloud may be the only hyperscaler in the group, but this is not uncommon. CISPE, a group of cloud companies active in Europe, has only one local hyperscaler: AWS.
Alaily’s blog post also points to Google’s failed attempts to get CISPE members to support their case against Microsoft. Google reportedly offered 470 million euros for this, but the group ultimately decided to opt for Microsoft’s settlement.
She wrote: “By our count, there are at least 24 antitrust investigations against Google in the leading digital markets around the world. At a time when Google should be focusing on answering legitimate questions about its business, it is instead focusing its vast resources on bringing others down.”
The blog post adds that Google has previously attacked Microsoft through other companies, noting: “We understand that Google is one of the primary backers of the US-based Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, which has launched attacks on our cloud computing operations in the United States, the United States and the United States. Kingdom and the EU… Google has also attacked us on issues ranging from cybersecurity to our activities in China, pitching stories to reporters, asking questions at congressional offices ahead of hearings and distributing documents in major capitals around the world.”
This is what a Google Cloud spokesperson said Ny Breaking in an email: “We have been very public about our concerns about Microsoft’s cloud licensing. We and many others believe that Microsoft’s anticompetitive practices are trapping customers and creating negative impacts that impact cybersecurity, innovation and choice. You can read more about it our many blog posts on these issues.”