Search engine Google is unhappy about Microsoft's plans to buy Yahoo!.

Google's top lawyer, David Drummond, said that the deal was not just a financial transaction. It was 'about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.'

He claimed that Microsoft will be able to stifle innovation and leverage its dominating Windows operating system to set up personal computers so consumers are automatically steered to online services, such as e-mail and instant messaging, controlled by the world's largest software maker.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Google Chief Executive Officer, Schmidt, called Yahoo! CEO, Jerry Yang, Friday to offer his help in repelling Microsoft.