If you didn't know, there's a war going on in the clouds. It heated up this week as Google and Microsoft both introduced special deals to expand the popularity of their cloud storage and computing services, but Amazon still reigns in the stratosphere.

This week, Google and Microsoft announced promotions to spur use of their respective cloud services, Drive and Azure. While the deals are intended for different segments of cloud users -- Drive mostly for general consumers and Azure for entrepreneurs, IT and enterprise -- it's clear both promotions are intended to make yet another dent in Amazon's multilayer, dominant cloud business.

Clever Storage Bump for Drive Targets Active Users First

For Google's latest salvo comes in the form of extra, free storage on Google Drive. Anyone with a Google account can get it (for a limited time), as part of a promotional celebration of "Safer Internet Day."

According to the announcement on Google Drive Blog (via Forbes), users need only complete a quick "Security Checkup" for their Drive accounts, and Google will "give you a permanent 2 gigabyte bump in your Google Drive storage plan."

The emphasis on permanent makes the security promotion seem like a way of upping its free storage allotment -- but selectively rather than automatically and across the board. It's only for those who are serious Drive users, those who would spend the time to get that extra 2GB now.

In total, Google says the Security Checkup will only take a couple of minutes, and there's a plus side besides the extra storage. According to Google's blog, the security checkup does the following:

  • Ensures your account recovery information is current
    If we detect suspicious activity in your account, we use your recovery info to get in touch and make sure no one but you gains access.
  • Lets you review recent sign-in activity
    Reviewing this lets you validate the sign-ins are coming from you and not someone who shouldn't be using your credentials.
  • Confirms the apps and devices that access some account information
    This step lets you monitor this list and remove apps and devices that don't need access to your account any more.

Google's promotion only lasts until Tuesday, Feb. 17. But, as you might have guessed, Google will up the free storage available to every Drive user at the end of February automatically, in yet another challenge to Amazon's cloud.

Microsoft Tries to Hook Startups on Azure Early

The cloud is not just about where you backup your photos, of course. It's also a rapidly expanding platform for businesses and startups looking for cheap storage and computational power they don't have access to themselves.

Its this crowd -- specifically the current class of startups in the Y Combinator accelerator program -- that Microsoft is hoping to coax to Azure, its cloud computing service. This week, Microsoft announced it made a deal with Y Combinator to offer the current crop of budding companies $500,000 in credits to Azure, along with three years of Office 365 for good measure.

That's five times what Amazon offers Y Combinator companies, and at least twice as much as the sum total of cloud computing offers available to those startups. According to TechCrunch, which broke the news, one of those startup's founders called the Azure offer "shockingly good" and said it may have changed his team's minds to consider using Microsoft's cloud "possibly exclusively."

What's Next from Amazon?

The last big thing Amazon did to drum up attention and use of its cloud was to make unlimited photo storage available to Prime members, late last year.

Amazon Web Services still dominates with about 30 percent of the market share, according to the latest figures from Synergy Research (via Business Insider), but as Microsoft and Google now lead in growth (first and second place, respectively), the king of the cloud will likely have to respond with a new offering soon.