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Microsoft: We're not involved in an antitrust complaint over Google+

Microsoft is not part of any new antitrust complaints against Google+ in Europe, company officials said.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Despite a Reuters report on February 28 claiming Microsoft was joining in with other undisclosed companies to convince European regulators of antitrust issues raised by Google+, Microsoft is not part of any such action, Microsoft officials said.

Reuters -- citing "two people familiar with the matter" -- reported that "Microsoft and several other firms have complained to EU antitrust regulators about Google's social networking tool ... in a move that may prompt the EU to broaden its ongoing investigation into Google."

"We have not filed a complaint regarding Google+," said a Microsoft spokesperson whom I contacted about the Reuters story. Twitter and Facebook officials have made no bones about their qualms about Google's attempt to tie its search results to its fledgling social-networking service via a combination Google has called "Search Plus Your World." But Microsoft isn't a top-tier player in social networking and has less of a vested interest here.

This isn't to say that Microsoft hasn't sought European Union regulatory intervention on other Google matters. Just last week, Microsoft filed an antitrust complaint against Google and Motorola Mobility around FRAND patents. And in March 2011, Microsoft filed a broad antitrust case against Google with  the European Commission over claims that Google was limiting access to some of its data.

So far, The EC has not issued a statement of objections based on Microsoft's complaints. The Commission has been formally investigating various antitrust issues involving Google there since November 2010.

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