While much of the online ad industry clings to the hope that the Federal Trade Commission and state legislatures will continue to trust the industry to “self-police” when it comes to behavioral targeting, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has been taking a much different tack. As AdAge reports, Microsoft is backing two separate bills—one in New York in and another in Connecticut—that would erect curbs to online ad companies’ ability to gather user data for behavioral targeting. The New York bill would compel sites to offer simple methods for opting out of having their online usage tracked by third parties. Connecticut’s proposed legislation would force websites to delineate how and what companies are gathering their user data.

As we mentioned last month, Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), AOL (NYSE: TWX), Facebook and others banded together to fight the New York bill. The companies’ argument: the regulatory efforts are both unnecessary and unconstitutional, ie that states can’t regulate internet commerce.

—The un-Google: So why does Microsoft feel differently? Michael Hintze, associate general counsel for Microsoft, told AdAge the company is advising the Connecticut bill’s sponsors: “We think legislation can be an appropriate part of the mix in protecting consumer privacy.”  Could this be a quixotic way to thwart Google and other challengers, even if the bills would likely affect Microsoft’s online ad business in similar ways? Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, welcomes the support, saying Microsoft was perhaps trying to define itself as the “un-Google.” But he’s a little skeptical about the company’s motives, suggesting that Microsoft could have been trying insulate itself from anti-trust advocates and regulators in anticipation of scrutiny over its now-dead Yahoo merger. With that deal apparently over, it’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft’s ardor for greater government intervention over the online ad industry holds.

• Expected Flood Of Opinion Ends With A Trickle: Proposed FTC Behavioral Rules Comment Period Closes
• Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Others Unite To Fight NYS Ad Targeting Bill; FTC Ending Comments On Regs
• Online Ad Industry Groups Take Steps To Self-Police