Microsoft calls for crackdown on Google. Again

Microsoft's "Don't Get Scroogled" advertising campaign is meant to educate consumers about what it calls unfair business practices. (Microsoft Corp.)

Microsoft is making a last-ditch effort to convince government regulators that they need to crack down on Google to preserve competition on the Internet and in smartphone markets.

Microsoft laid out its arguments in a blog post Wednesday by Dave Heiner, the software maker's deputy general counsel.

"Two years ago, Microsoft applauded the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission when they opened their antitrust investigations into Google’s business practices. We believed then, as we do now, that the future of competition in search is at stake in these investigations," Heiner wrote.

[pullquote]

Heiner mostly rehashed familiar ground while depicting Google as a company that has abused its dominance of Internet search and leadership in online video to thwart its rivals to the detriment of consumers.

"'You might think that Google would be on its best behavior given it’s under the bright lights of regulatory scrutiny on two continents ... however, as we enter 2013, that is not the case," he wrote.

Microsoft lobbed its lasted missive as regulators in the U.S. and Europe wrap up wide-ranging investigations into Google's business practices.

After extensive negotiations with Google executives, resolutions of the probes are expected soon. Microsoft is worried Google will reach settlements that won't require major changes.

But it's only one of several fronts in an increasingly public war between the two tech giants. In November, Microsoft set out to skewer Google as a lousy holiday shopping guide in an attempt to divert more traffic to its Bing search engine.

In a series of ads, Microsoft warned consumers that they risk getting "scroogled" if they rely on Google's shopping search service -- a message that was highlighted in TV commercials on NBC and CNN and newspaper ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The blitz also appeared on billboards and online, anchored by a new website, Scroogled.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.