Google is unfair, Microsoft complains

Microsoft Corp has filed a complaint to European regulators accusing its rival Google Inc of interfering unfairly with other search engines.

It is the first time Microsoft has asked regulators to intercede in a competition matter - Microsoft is itself in hot water with both US and European regulators over its own competition practices.

Microsoft's complaint says that Google keeps rival search engines from using search boxes on its web sites, and cellphones that use Microsoft's operating system cannot connect properly to YouTube.

"These allegations cover new and difficult ground and, if Google fights, clearly increase the likelihood of a long investigation," Matthew Hall, an antitrust lawyer at McGuire Woods LLP in Brussels, told Bloomberg news.

Google suggested it was not overly concerned by the complaint, Reuters reported.

"We're not surprised that Microsoft has done this, since one

of their subsidiaries was one of the original complainants,"

Google spokesman Al Verney told Reuters.