Google has withdrawn its first ever antitrust complaint against Microsoft in the European Union, marking a major shift in its approach to the ongoing cloud market dispute. The company had filed the complaint last year, accusing Microsoft of using its dominance in the Windows Server ecosystem to push customers toward its Azure cloud platform through anti competitive practices.
The decision to drop the case comes soon after EU regulators announced a broader investigation into the cloud computing sector. The inquiry will examine whether major providers, including Microsoft and Amazon, should face new rules to limit their market power.
Google Cloud’s head of government affairs in Europe, Giorgia Abeltino, confirmed the withdrawal and said the company will work with regulators through this new process. She stated, “Today, we are withdrawing it in light of the recent announcement that the EC will assess problematic practices affecting the cloud sector under a separate process.” Google emphasized that although the complaint has been withdrawn, it will continue to support policies that promote openness and customer choice across the EU and the UK.
Google’s original complaint focused on what it described as unfair licensing practices. The company alleged that Microsoft imposed heavy financial penalties on customers who chose rival cloud providers. Google Cloud executive Amit Zavery had said Microsoft forced customers to pay up to a four hundred percent mark up to run Windows Server on competing platforms, a fee not charged to Azure users. He also claimed that customers using other cloud providers received delayed and limited security updates.
A study released in 2023 by a cloud services group found that European companies were spending as much as one billion euros every year on these licensing penalties. Google also argued that Microsoft was using the same tactics in cloud that it had used to strengthen adoption of its Teams application by limiting interoperability and forcing customer lock in. Zavery had warned, “The cloud market will get more and more restrictive if things don’t happen now.”
With the European Commission now examining the entire cloud sector, Google believes its concerns will be addressed through the new regulatory process. The outcome of this broader inquiry will determine whether stricter rules will be imposed on large cloud providers operating in the EU.
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