However, the general attitude toward Microsoft as a monopoly has changed, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. Perhaps ironically, he noted, it has changed, in part, because of Google’s success.

This is one of those news stories that makes you appreciate great ironies, like Paris Hilton chastising the media over giving her jail story too much attention, and my personal favorite, Iran complaining about diplomats being detained in a foreign country.

Google might want to be careful on this front, given that their Doubleclick acquisition is now getting a formal review and Microsoft has proven itself to be pretty damn adept at managing the political processes.

The quote above nicely sums up the dilemma that Google has on the antitrust issue, the more they put they attempt to put a light on Microsoft the more it shines back on them given their dominance over Microsoft in search and online advertising networks.