New Google filing presses for role in Microsoft case from the Seattle PI covers how Google has now formally applied for a direct role to participate in how a judge evaluates whether Microsoft’s desktop search in the Vista operating system violates an anti-trust agreement.

In the last installment of this saga, the judge had ruled that she was satisfied with changes that Microsoft proposes to make to how desktop search operates and that if Google disagreed, it needed to work through the US Justice Department and various state attorneys that are party to the Microsoft anti-trust settlement.

Google would prefer to directly address the court. In particular, it wants to prevent the anti-trust settlement from expiring this November, to ensure the proposed changes to desktop search are fully in place. This week’s filing (PDF file) is intended to win over a place at the table from the judge.

Stay tuned.

Related Topics: Google: Desktop | Google: Legal | Legal: General | Microsoft: Business Issues | Toolbars & Add-Ons

About The Author: Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle (and maintains his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google + and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan