Steve Ballmer's ongoing criticism of Google has taken a bizarre turn. Ballmer, who replaced Bill Gates as Microsoft's CEO, has labored to creep out from under the founder's shadow. But now it seems Ballmer may have done just that with the help of, you guessed it, Google. A video titled "Steve Ballmer Going Crazy" has rocketed to the top of the YouTube charts, garnering more than 400,000 views and 1,000 comments.

The video, which was posted last year but only recently began to takeoff, features an excited Ballmer proclaiming his love and devotion to Microsoft. While the substance of the video has nothing to do with Google, the fact that Ballmer's enhanced web presence can be attributed to Google undercuts the executive's recent comments regarding his company's battle with the internet titan.

Last week, Ballmer told The Associated Press that Microsoft was not behind Google in any category, save for search. The remarks came in the wake of recently redrawn digital battle lines, after Microsoft announced its $240 million investment in Facebook. Since then, the headlines have belonged to Google, which countered Microsoft on the social networking front with the launch of OpenSocial, a program that includes partnerships with the likes of MySpace and Friendster.