Microsoft Goes Behind the Scenes

MICROSOFT GOES BEHIND THE SCENES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Robert A. Guth rob.guth@wsj.com and Charles Forelle]
Microsoft executives and a public-relations firm retained by the software giant are waging a quiet campaign to convince Internet companies, advertisers and regulators to oppose Google Inc.'s planned $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising specialist DoubleClick Inc. In recent months, public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller pitched media outlets and Internet companies on what it said were the dangers of the deal, which would bolster Google's already strong presence in online advertising. In the written pitches, Burson cites the deal as part of a larger discussion of "fair and free competition" in Internet-search and privacy rights of consumers.
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