Microsoft is calling foul over Reddit’s recent effort to block all search engines except Google, saying the decision ‘impacts competition.’

Reddit recently started blocking nearly all search engines except Google, as part of its $60 million annual deal to give Google access to data for AI training. In an interview with The Verge, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman made clear that search engines need to pay-to-play, when it comes to Reddit’s data.

“Without these agreements, we don’t have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it’s used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven’t been willing to come to terms with how we’d like our data to be used or not used,” Huffman told the outlet. He called out Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity, saying it has been “a real pain in the ass to block these companies” that refuse to pay.

Microsoft Head of Search, Jordi Ribas, says Reddit’s actions harm competition in the search market.

Interestingly, in response to another user’s comment, Ribas takes issue with Huffman’s description, saying it respects Reddit’s terms and only crawls the site for standard search results.

If what Ribas says is correct, Reddit’s actions could set a significant precedent, one in which companies increasingly block search engines from crawling their content and linking to it unless they pony up.