Microsoft being probed by French antitrust agency over Bing access

France's antitrust agency is investigating Microsoft over concerns that it is degrading the quality of results when smaller rivals pay to use Bing technology in their own search-engine products.

"We are fully cooperating with the Autorite's investigation," a Microsoft spokesperson said, referring to the regulator's French name.

Bloomberg reported the investigation earlier on Monday. Microsoft, though not a major player in the general market, is a leader in the search-engine syndication sector.

The competition authority declined to comment.

The investigation could yield formal charges and a fine against the U.S. tech giant.