Google just filed a complaint against Microsoft Azure

Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google has officially filed a complaint against Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) for using anti-competitive practices in Azure.

How is Microsoft Azure hurting competition?

In a letter it sent to the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, the tech behemoth accused Microsoft of employing unfair licensing terms to exercise control over the cloud space.

The multinational capitalises on the dominance of Microsoft Office and Windows Server to make it difficult for clients to pick any cloud platform over Azure, Google added.   

With overly complex agreements that seek to lock in clients to their ecosystems, [they] are forcing customers toward a monolithic cloud model.

Azure currently has about a 23% market share in global cloud infrastructure versus 10% for Google Cloud. “MSFT” is up 40% for the year at writing.

Google also accused Oracle of unfair practices

Google also dubbed the attempt from Microsoft to control the cloud space a meaningful threat both in terms of national security and cybersecurity.

In its complaint to the Federal Trade Commission today, the California-based company accused Oracle Corp of unfair practices that it said were:

Also limiting choice, increasing costs for customers, and disrupting growing and thriving digital ecosystem in the United States and around the world.

An FTC spokesperson refused to comment on the news. It is noteworthy that Google itself was sued this week by Gannett – the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. for its monopoly in online advertising. Google shares are currently up nearly 35% versus the start of the year.