The men, Brandon Drury and Luke Sample, both 26 and from Cape Girardeau, Mo., reportedly said in those statements that Google gave them keywords such as "bootleg movie download" and "pirated" to draw traffic to their sites. Of the $1.1 million generated between 2003 and 2005 by Drury's and Sample's sites, $809,000 was paid to Google for sponsored links, the Journal reported. The sites have long been shuttered.

Last month, according to the newspaper, Google met with media companies, including News Corp., Sony Corp., Time Warner Inc., Viacom and Walt Disney Co., on a conference call and promised to refrain from selling keywords used by sites to entice people to download pirated content.

Also in February, the San Jose Mercury News reported that several software companies, including Microsoft, Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and Symantec Corp., had also been victimized by Drury and Sample. In an affidavit obtained by the Mercury News (download PDF), the two men claimed that Google representatives suggested that they buy sponsored-link ads for keywords, including "Microsoft XP Software" and "Microsoft Word" combined with the words "free" and "download."

Rubin made his case in front of the AAP by bringing up the software angle of Google's alleged malfeasance. "Microsoft was surprised to learn recently that Google employees have actively encouraged advertisers to build advertising programs around keywords referring to pirated software, including pirated Microsoft software," he said.

Google did not return calls for comment, and a Microsoft spokesman only offered a link to the Mercury News story when asked for proof of Rubin's allegations.