It seems that Google didn’t want to play the role of a silent spectator in the European Commission's ongoing antitrust case against Microsoft over its Web browser.

On Tuesday, Search giant Google applied to the European Commission to seek “third party” status in the case, which was filed against Microsoft by Opera for its practice of illegally "tying" its Web browser, Internet Explorer with its Windows PC operating system. Thus, it was the first time that Google formally took position against Microsoft in the antitrust dispute.

In a statement posted on Google's official public policy blog, the Google VP of product management, Sundar Pichai, stated that the internet company has applied to become a "third party" in the European Commission's (EC) ongoing investigation against Microsoft.

The product manager for Google's Chrome browser, Sundar Pinchai wrote, "Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft's dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers. We learned a lot from launching our own Google Chrome browser last year and are hoping that Google's perspective will be useful as the European Commission evaluates remedies to improve the user experience and offer consumers real choices. Of course creating a remedy that helps solve one problem without creating other unintended consequences isn't easy—but the more voices there are in the conversation the greater the chances of success."

Google’s announcement came six weeks after a statement of objections was filed against Microsoft by the European Commission, which initiated the case in January this year. However, Microsoft declined to comment on Google’s announcement.

Oslo-based Opera filed a complaint against Microsoft, with the European Commission, in 2007. In its complaint, Opera alleged Microsoft of undermining the competition in the browser market by illegally bundling its Internet Explorer Web with its dominant Windows operating system.

Earlier this month, Mozilla, which was granted “third party” status in the case, announced that it would participate in the case and offer its assistance to the European Commission.