Ballmer accuses Google of 'diva behaviour'

Google seems to want special treatment on Internet Explorer, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

His remarks centred on the default search engine in the web browser. Right now, when people update their version of IE to IE 7, the software won't change their default search settings. Ballmer said, in a hallway conversation on Thursday after a speech he gave at the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California: "If you pick Yahoo!, it will stay on Yahoo!."

Google, however, has complained about how the system works. The complaints could be taken as a disguised way to help that company grow its segment in search, Ballmer suggested.

Ballmer, who was speaking generally and not recounting a formal meeting or discussion with Google executives, said: "Google wants us to prompt the users to change the defaults. They want to see a list of search providers, with the number one search provider listed first."

IE 7 offers a list of search sites that can become a user's default search engine. The list is alphabetical, so Google is listed after some (such as Ask.com) but before others, including MSN.com. IE 7 also doesn't actively suggest to a user that they can change their default based on their recent search histories or other behaviour.

Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google, used the "M" word - "monopoly" - to describe Microsoft at a press event on Wednesday, and said the software maker didn't necessarily play fair in certain situations.

Google and the growth of the advertising market was one of the primary topics of discussion at the Churchill Club event on Thursday. Microsoft is third right now in internet advertising. The software behemoth hopes to turn that around by developing its own ad network to create a mass marketplace on the web. It's also working on software tools and alliances with content providers and online stores to push the effort.

Ballmer said: "We want to make sure there is good, healthy competition in the advertising space. Everybody deserves good competition. People have been telling me that for years."

Not every bit of technology will be supported by advertising, he said. Even though Microsoft will have ad-supported applications, a lot of people will want a standard desktop Office.

He added: "Can you imagine writing a letter to someone. 'Hey, Mom, I am upset with the gun policy'. Then an ad pops up and says, 'Hey, do you want to buy a gun?'."

The Microsoft chief spoke on a range of other topics, revealing open source keeps him awake at night; IBM is still one of Microsoft's biggest challengers in the corporate space; and Redmond's strength is its patience: "We have a tenacity and a persistence and patience to stay after it and stay after it and stay after it."

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com