Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer intends to keep the regulatory heat on Google as his company strives to lessen its rival’s dominance of internet search, reports the Associated Press. In an appearance March 2 at a search engine conference, Ballmer said Microsoft believes Google has done things to gain an unfair advantage in the internet’s lucrative search advertising market. He didn’t specify the alleged misconduct. “We are expressing some of the issues and frustrations we see” with antitrust regulators, Ballmer said. “Sometimes [it’s] unsolicited, sometimes because we have been asked.” Google declined to comment, but it has said its actions are aimed at providing better experiences for web surfers and advertisers. Microsoft already has helped convince U.S. regulators that Google would break antitrust laws in two proposed deals: a search advertising partnership with Yahoo that was scrapped in 2008 and a digital books settlement that still needs federal court approval. Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, has had its own troubles with regulators. Its bundling of personal computer software triggered a court dispute with the U.S. Justice Department that forced the company to change the way it packages software with its Windows operating system. Microsoft later tussled with European Union regulators, too…
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