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Google's proposed purchase of DoubleClick earned it an invitation to a Senate subcommittee hearing this week. Microsoft's work with PR firm Burson-Marsteller could have helped print that invite.

Microsoft Taps PR Firm To Thwart Google

Skullduggery in the form of a whispering campaign against Google, carried out by Burson-Marsteller on Microsoft's, called for media organizations and Internet firms to sign up at www.i-comp.org.

The Wall Street Journal said these pitches asked companies in Europe to sign an online petition for a "transparent and competitive Internet." In a humorous twist, visiting the i-comp.org site shows how much "transparency" is being offered; the site cannot be accessed without a login and password.

Confronted with the claims backed by written pitches the Journal obtained, as well as reporting by The Observer in the UK, Microsoft owned up to its role:

Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said Microsoft is a client of Burson's and is a "founding member" of the group directing companies to i-comp.org. "We've been very clear that we were going to work to promote an industry dialogue about issues affecting the online-advertising market," he said. "It's no secret that Microsoft has concerns about the market-concentration impact that this proposed Google merger would have."

Microsoft wasn't quite as forthcoming in those pitches about its involvement. Solicitations sent on its behalf by Burson-Marsteller did not note Microsoft had backed the campaign.

According to The Observer, i-comp.org stands for Initiative for Competitive Online Marketplaces. Burson-Marsteller director Jonathan Dinkeldein admitted the group had been formed by Microsoft.

One would think Microsoft had learned from the PR debacles Wal-Mart suffered when it tried to quietly back some pro-company online initiatives. Although there seem to be legitimate reasons to question Google's proposed DoubleClick buy, Microsoft probably didn't need to help things along this way.