A war of words has erupted between Microsoft and Google, with the former accusing the latter of orchestrating “shadow campaigns” in Europe to undermine its status with regulators. As competition in the cloud sector increases, Microsoft has been unequivocal to express its position in a blog post authored by company lawyer, Rima Alaily. Among other allegations, Microsoft has accused Google of hiring a firm to do its bidding over regulatory pressures, with the Alphabet-owned company remaining in the background to control its direction and approach. “This week an astroturf group organized by Google is launching,” said Alaily. “It is designed to discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public.