Microsoft Reportedly In Crosshairs With French Search Engine Qwant Over Bing’s Search Quality

According to a Reuters report, Qwant has argued that Microsoft’s control over search delivery is distorting competition and harming alternative engines.

Qwant, a French search engine that promotes privacy, has asked France’s antitrust regulator to take interim action against Microsoft (MSFT), alleging that the company is degrading the quality of search results delivered through its Bing platform.

According to a Reuters report, Qwant filed the request with the Autorité de la Concurrence, which has started gathering input from other search engines and is expected to decide by September whether to proceed with temporary measures or open a formal investigation.

Qwant relies on Microsoft’s Bing to power its search and news results, which is a common arrangement for smaller European search providers that lack proprietary back-end infrastructure. 

The company reportedly argued that Microsoft’s control over search delivery is distorting competition and harming alternative engines.

Interim measures are granted only when a regulator sees evidence of market abuse and serious, immediate harm to the complainant.

“This complaint lacks merit. We are fully cooperating with the Autorité’s investigation,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

Microsoft is also facing antitrust scrutiny in other parts of Europe. The European Commission is evaluating whether the company’s bundling of its Teams collaboration app with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 constitutes anticompetitive behavior. 

Microsoft has offered to unbundle Teams in the EU, reduce pricing for Office suites that do not include Teams, and enhance interoperability with competing services. Regulators are currently reviewing feedback from rivals and customers.

Separately, the Commission is considering a new complaint from Google, which accuses Microsoft of unfair practices in the cloud services market.

The series of regulatory actions reflects mounting pressure on large U.S. technology firms operating in the European Union, where competition authorities have stepped up enforcement around market dominance and digital platform fairness.

Microsoft’s stock edged 0.29% higher in afternoon trade on Tuesday. The shares have gained nearly 9% this year, and more than 11% over the past 12 months.

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