Google Cloud has confirmed the withdrawal of a complaint it filed with the European Commission (EC) in September 2024, relating to Microsoft’s controversial cloud licensing strategy, whereby it charges customers higher fees for wanting to run its software in competing cloud environments.
The issue has seen Microsoft repeatedly come in for criticism and scrutiny from regulators, trade bodies and cloud market stakeholders from around the world in recent years, with research previously claiming the tactic is costing enterprises billions in additional annual licensing fees.
As previously reported by Computer Weekly, Google Cloud announced in September 2024 its intention to file an antitrust complaint with the EC, on the basis that Microsoft’s cloud licensing strategy put customers at increased risk of supplier lock-in by making it cost-prohibitive for them to switch between providers.
Speaking at the time of the complaint’s filing, Amit Zavery, former vice-president, general manager and head of platform at Google Cloud, said Microsoft’s products – particularly Windows Server – were prevalent across the enterprise IT market, with users running them in private datacentres, on-premise environments and in the cloud.
“What Microsoft does is restrict those licences to be taken to other cloud providers and puts them all towards Azure, and [in doing so is] linking the on-premise products, as well as Windows Server, to Azure, which are really two different markets. One is around the operating system and on-premise, and the other one is about cloud,” said Lavery, who left Google in October 2024.
“That’s why we believe this regulatory action is the only way to end Microsoft vendor lock-in and for customers to have a choice, and create a level playing field for customers.”
Despite these concerns, Google has confirmed its complaint against Microsoft has now been withdrawn, as of Friday 28 November 2025, in the wake of the EC’s decision to launch its own probe into Microsoft’s hold on the continent’s cloud market.
In a statement, Giorgia Abeltino, head of government affairs and public policy at Google Cloud Europe, said the company stands by its previous misgivings about Microsoft’s behaviour, and the contents of its original complaint.
“We filed our antitrust complaint with the European Commission (EC) to give voice to our customers and partners about the issue of anti-competitive cloud licensing practices,” said Abeltino.
“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.”
Abeltino continued: “We stand behind the arguments outlined in [our earlier blog], and we continue to work with policymakers, customers and regulators across the EU, the UK, and elsewhere to advocate for choice and openness in the cloud market.”
The EC investigation into Microsoft was announced 10 days before Google decided to withdraw its complaint, which will centre on whether Microsoft should be brought into scope of the Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
This would potentially see Microsoft being given “gatekeeper” status by the EC, in recognition of how much control the company has on the overall cloud computing market.
As per the terms of the DMA, gatekeepers are typically large tech firms that are able to control access to digital services markets and, in turn, make it difficult for smaller companies to gain a foothold in them.
They must also meet a specific set of market value, revenue generation and user number metrics to be labelled gatekeepers, and are expected to abide by rules set by the EC to encourage competition to thrive within the parts of the digital services market they operate in.
Failing to follow these rules can result in the commission issuing fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue for a first-time violation, rising to 20% for repeat offences.
The EC also confirmed that a separate investigation along the same lines is also being launched into Amazon Web Services (AWS), with a final report on the findings uncovered as a result of these probes due within 18 months.
