Microsoft has apparently initiated some kind of a proxy war against Google – a fact that has peeved Google no end! Clearly behind two of the three complaints about Google’s search and advertising businesses to the European Union antitrust authorities, the software biggie has notably ‘contributed’ to the antitrust proceedings against Google.

Noting that Microsoft’s involvement hints at a broader antitrust attack on Google’s dominating position in the online world, Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said: “It’s become clear that our competitors are scouring court dockets around the world looking for complaints against Google into which they can inject themselves, learn more about our business practices, and use that information to develop a broader antitrust complaint against us.”

The Microsoft-Google antitrust wrangle sparked off after Google October-filed a lawsuit against a small Ohio site myTriggers. com Inc in October, seeking $335,000 in unpaid advertising bills; and was surprised at a 24-page antitrust lawsuit by the small site last month, accusing Google of monopolistic malpractices.

What actually caught Google’s attention was the fact that the Internet site’s legal counsel was Charles ‘Rick’ Rule, who has long been Microsoft’s chief outside counsel on competition issues and a member of the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft!

As such, Google has accused Microsoft of a behind-the-scenes attack; while Rule has reiterated that the alleged involvement of Microsoft is “false and distracts from the serious allegations in the complaint.”