September 26, 2024 – Google has officially filed a complaint with the European Commission on September 25th, accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive practices in the cloud computing market.
According to Google, Microsoft has utilized unfair licensing terms through its dominant Windows Server and Microsoft Office products, making it difficult for a significant number of customers to use any products other than Azure cloud infrastructure.
In its complaint, Google has highlighted several concerning behaviors by Microsoft, with the most notable being the pricing strategy for Windows Server. Google alleges that Microsoft charges customers up to 400% more if they continue to use Windows Server on other cloud platforms, whereas no additional fees are incurred if they choose Microsoft’s own Azure cloud platform. Furthermore, Microsoft provides delayed and limited security updates to customers using other cloud platforms.
Google further states that Microsoft also bundles its collaboration application, Teams, with its cloud platform, restricting user choice. The company urges the European Commission to intervene, claiming that regulatory action is necessary to end Microsoft’s market dominance and restore competitive balance.
