Microsoft (MSFT) can't compete with Google (GOOG), resorts to courts and PR

The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), hoping to bolster its legal challenge, is now paying a PR firm to drum up public opposition to Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) $3.1 billion deal to acquire online advertising firm, DoubleClick. Microsoft hired PR firm Burson-Marsteller to drum up opposition to Google's DoubleClick deal. In Europe, Burson urged Internet companies to sign an online petition for a more "transparent and competitive Internet," according to the pitches.

Why does Microsoft oppose the deal and why is it hiding behind Burson? Microsoft does not want Google to strengthen its competitive position in the online advertising industry -- and DoubleClick, which serves online display advertisements, would surely help Google expand its online advertising dominance. Microsoft has been hiding behind Burson in Europe because it has just lost a European Court upheld a ruling that found Microsoft had abused its near-monopoly position in PC computer software.

The irony of Microsoft's efforts to block competition through the courts and the media was not lost on the Journal. In the 1990s, Bill Gates enjoyed tweaking competitors which similar tactics by rivals as it cemented its own power in personal-computer software, and those efforts factored into its run-ins with antitrust regulators.

But current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer lacks Gates' competitive chops, so he's struggling to use the means of a second rate competitor against the market leader, Google. Those clumsy means will only make Microsoft look bad.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates,. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Google or Microsoft securities.