The tired spat between Google and Microsoft just got a lot more interesting after reports that the search giant tipped off European authorities to antitrust concerns, a tip that will now cost the Windows-maker nearly a billion dollars. When news of the fine levied by the European Union's competition watchdog broke on Wednesday, nobody was too surprised that the European Commission was punishing Microsoft for bullying consumers. But with a recent headline-stealing dispute between the Redwood, Washington company and Google, it's competitor down in Mountain View, California, bloggers got curious. Early Wednesday evening, The Wall Street Journal's Tom Gara wondered, "Did Google Snitch?" According to a Financial Times report published a few minutes later, the answer is yes. 
 
 Before we get too wrapped up in the Google-Microsoft feud, let's review the fine itself. Microsoft has long been criticized for bundling Internet Explorer with Windows and, as a direct result, the vast majority of PCs on the market. This scenario proved central to the famous 1998 Senate antitrust hearings, when Bill Gates testified that his company was not trying to monopolize the computer business. Gates got off the hook then, but the issue popped up again in 2009, when the European Commission forced Microsoft to offer consumers an alternative to Internet Explorer. The Windows maker agreed to offer consumers a "choice screen" when they opened the browser for the first time until 2014. "Despite early implementation, regulators later received a complaint from a third-party and spotted that the choice had been removed from February 2011 until July 2012," reports The Journal's Vanessa Mock. Microsoft blamed the removal on a "technical error." 
 
 Hmmm. Who could that "third party" have been? Back to that FT scoop, "Brussels punished Microsoft for failing to give at least 15m consumers a choice of web browser — a violation of a voluntary antitrust pact that was spotted and raised by Google and Opera, according to several people familiar with the case." Oh, that's sneaky. 
 
 Some would say that Microsoft had it coming to them. The company's been trolling Google for months with its "Scroogled" campaign, a transparent attempt to scare consumers over to Bing and Outlook by reminding them that Google is reading their email, among other things. This week, Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to the campaign to ReadWrite. The blog's Brian Hall paraphrased a Microsoft statement: "We have always planned to run the Scroogled campaign until the end of time — or until we triumph over Google. Whichever comes first." 
 
 Well, who looks triumphant now? 
 
 Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. 
 
 Adam Clark Estes ||||| Google will resolve a 20-month antitrust probe by U.S. regulators tomorrow with a voluntary agreement and a consent decree. 
 
 Google will resolve a 20-month antitrust probe by U.S. regulators tomorrow with a... Read More 
 
 Google will resolve a 20-month antitrust probe by U.S. regulators tomorrow with a voluntary agreement and a consent decree. Close 
 
 Google Inc. (GOOG) will resolve a 20-month antitrust probe by U.S. regulators today with a voluntary agreement and a consent decree on the company’s alleged misuse of patents, three people familiar with the matter said. 
 
 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is poised to announce that Google has agreed to voluntarily change some business practices and settle allegations it misused patents to thwart competitors in smartphone technology, said the people, who asked not to be named because the decision isn’t public. 
 
 The FTC is expected to close its investigation into whether Google, operator of the world’s most popular search engine, skews its search results to favor its own services without enforcement action, the people said. The FTC’s decision not to take action is a blow to competitors including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Yelp Inc. (YELP) and Expedia Inc. (EXPE) and comes at a time when the European Union is seeking a “detailed commitment” on search to end its probe into allegations that Google discriminates against rivals. 
 
 As part of its voluntary concessions, Google will make changes in the way it uses content from other websites and allow advertisers to export data to other platforms, the people said. 
 
 Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg Google has blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube, while enabling its own Android phones to access YouTube, said Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel Dave Heiner in a blogpost. Close Google has blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube,... Read More Close Open Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg Google has blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube, while enabling its own Android phones to access YouTube, said Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel Dave Heiner in a blogpost. 
 
 Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the FTC, and Niki Fenwick, a Google spokeswoman, declined to comment on the resolution of the probe. 
 
 Google Opponents 
 
 The expected FTC decision was drawing criticism from Google opponents, including the FairSearch.org coalition, an alliance that includes Microsoft and Expedia. 
 
 “If the FTC fails to take decisive action to end Google’s anti-competitive practices, and locks itself out of any remedies to Google’s conduct that are offered in Europe later this month, the FTC will have acted prematurely and failed in its mission of protecting America’s consumers,” according to a FairSearch.org blogpost published yesterday. 
 
 In another blogpost yesterday, Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel Dave Heiner accused Google of anticompetitive practices, including continuing “to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for the Windows Phone.” 
 
 Microsoft has complained about the issue both to the EU and the FTC, Heiner said. Google has blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube, while enabling its own Android phones to access YouTube, Heiner said in the posting. 
 
 “These restrictions are just one example of where we believe Google is impeding competition in the marketplace,” Heiner wrote in the posting. 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Sara Forden in Washington at sforden@bloomberg.net. 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net. ||||| ENLARGE The move reopens the possibility of fines for Google that could theoretically exceed $6 billion. Photo: PETER MUHLY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES 
 
 BRUSSELS—Europe’s antitrust regulator plans to file formal charges against Google Inc. for violating antitrust laws, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday, stepping up a five-year investigation likely to become the biggest competition battle here since the European Union’s pursuit of Microsoft Corp. a decade ago. 
 
 EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager made the decision Tuesday in agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, this person said. She is expected to inform her fellow EU commissioners at a meeting Wednesday, said three EU officials. 
 
 The European charges will focus on complaints that Google uses its dominant Internet search engine to favor its own services over those of rivals, people familiar with the situation said. Rivals say Google search results in areas like travel, shopping and maps increasingly favor Google’s own offerings, rather than links to similaronline services run by rivals. 
 
 Google told employees Tuesday it has a “very strong case” against the expected charges. In the past, Google has denied breaking antitrust laws and argues that providing more direct answers to online queries, including from its own services, benefits consumers. 
 
 ENLARGE Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner, decided to move ahead with formal antitrust charges against Google in agreement with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Photo: OLIVIER HOSLET/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY 
 
 The charges would be “very bad news” for Google, said Ioannis Lianos, a professor of global competition law at University College London. 
 
 The move opens the possibility of Google facing fines of over $6 billion. Google also could face injunctions that require modifying contracts, Mr. Lianos said. Checks on its behavior could extend beyond search into related markets,which would “really put a squeeze on how they can run their business,” he said. 
 
 The European Commission has highlighted four main areas of concern in its investigation: potential bias in Google’s search results, scraping content from rival websites, agreements with advertisers that may exclude rival search-advertising services and contracts that limit marketers from using other platforms. The commission also is investigating whether Google uses its leading Android mobile-operating system to promote its own services. 
 
 Search bias has been central to the probe because Google controls over 90% of Europe’s general search market. Rivals have said it abuses that dominance to favor its own services. 
 
 “If you are dominant in Europe, you are not allowed to tie and bundle your other services to that dominant business to the detriment of your competitors,” said Michael Weber, a director at online mapping company Hot-Map.com, which has complained to the EU about Google’s practices. “But that’s exactly what Google’s doing.” 
 
 News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, on Tuesday filed a formal complaint with the commission regarding Google’s competition practices, a spokesman said. He declined to disclose further details. 
 
 After the complaint is issued, Google would have about three months to respond, and could request a hearing to better explain its case. If the EU then decided to press ahead, a final decision could be expected by the end of the year, Mr. Lianos said. 
 
 Google could then appeal to the EU’s appeals courts in Luxembourg, a process that could take years. Those courts in Luxembourg have traditionally been sympathetic to the commission. 
 
 The EU also could impose injunctions requiring Google to stop any behavior deemed anticompetitive. 
 
 —Alistair Barr 
 
 contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com and Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
– Microsoft got thumped with a $732 million fine issued by the EU antitrust enforcer yesterday for violating the terms of a 2009 deal—thanks to Google and Opera, reports the Financial Times. Microsoft had then promised to offer consumers a choice of Internet browser instead of making Explorer Windows' automatic default. But the "choice screen" displaying users' options disappeared from 15 million computers sold from February 2011 to July 2012, a breach Microsoft called a "technical error," reports the Wall Street Journal. The FT notes that it was Google and Opera who noticed the violation and alerted the watchdog, per sources. The fine is the first time Brussels has punished a company for breaching a settlement, and the EU’s competition authority said the size of the fine was designed to "punish and deter," noting companies "must do what they committed to do or face the consequences." Google had no comment on the decision, but Opera said it was "happy to see that the commission is enforcing compliance with the commitment, which is critical to ensuring a genuine choice among web browsers for consumers." In a look at Google's snitching for the Atlantic Wire, Adam Clark Estes notes that "some would say that Microsoft had it coming to them," pointing out the company has spent months "trolling Google" with its Scroogled campaign.