Microsoft is filing a complaint with the European Commission as part of the commission's ongoing investigation into Google's dominant position in the online search market. Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smit confirmed the news in a blog posting, saying the company was concerned about "a broadening pattern of conduct aimed at stopping anyone else from creating a competitive alternative" to Google. Microsoft accused Google of "walling off access to content and data that competitors need to provide search results to consumers and to attract advertisers". Smith outlined a half-dozen such examples where Google is thought to be impeding competition and said the complaint with the EC lists several more. These include insufficient access for other search engines to YouTube, limiting functionality of Microsoft's Windows Phones when accessing YouTube, attempts to block access to content owned by book publishers, limiting advertisers ability to share data with other search advertising platforms, blocking websites in Europe from distributing competing search boxes, and making it more costly for rivals to attain prominent placement for their advertisements.
