Scroogled? Microsoft and Google square off again.
The Google v. Microsoft rivalry continues as Microsoft launches another attack aimed at Google鈥檚 Gmail privacy policies. Microsoft, which released the 鈥淕mail Man鈥� spoof video a year ago, has re-vamped their Scroogled website in the style of it鈥檚 latest attack.
鈥淭hink Google respects your privacy? Think again,鈥� Scroogled.
The site uses the same tactics as the 鈥淕mail Man鈥� video. Google鈥檚 Gmail service scans recipient and sender emails, looking for keywords that are then used to generate ads.
鈥淎nd there鈥檚 no way to opt out of this invasion of your privacy,鈥� says the site, just above a clickable ad that allows users to try Outlook -- Microsoft鈥檚 own e-mail software.
Inside Scroogled are charts and graphs, each of which are said to represent surveys that reveal a number of unsatisfied customers. a GfK report, which was commissioned by Microsoft, 88 percent of users disapprove of e-mail providers (in this case Google) scanning e-mails for advertising purposes.
This isn鈥檛 the first time that Microsoft has gone after the search-engine giant. September brought 鈥淏ing It On,鈥� a blind test where users would pick the better search engine. And in November, Microsoft launched Scroogled for the first time as a way to criticize Google鈥檚 shopping results.
However, techies are beginning to criticize Microsoft for launching the campaign alongside their own marketing pretext.
鈥淭he problem with the kind of negative strategy Microsoft has decided to adopt in its Scroogled campaign is that the merits of its messages gets lost in its self-serving motives to promote its products,鈥� PC World鈥檚 John P. Mello Jr. 鈥淢icrosoft is acting no better than the boogeyman it seeks to bash.鈥�
In a press release on Feb. 6, Microsoft tries to cut past this claim by asserting that users the first priority and marketing second.
鈥淲ith the Don't Get Scroogled by Gmail consumer education campaign, Outlook.com is doing two things: First, it is highlighting Google's practice of going through the personal contents of emails to benefit Google's bottom line ahead of the user. Outlook.com has launched this education campaign and petition to help consumers get the message to Google that going through personal email messages to sell ads is unacceptable. Second, Outlook.com wants to highlight that it is an email service that puts consumers' privacy first,鈥� Microsoft in the press release.
Google to Microsoft鈥檚 campaign in a post on their Public Policy Blog on Feb. 1. When responding to whether or not Microsoft has a better privacy approach than Google, the site replied with a snarky, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 make judgments about other people鈥檚 policies or controls.鈥�
The Google鈥檚 post also ends with a sharp jab at Microsoft.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always believed the facts should inform our marketing鈥攁nd that it鈥檚 best to focus on our users rather than negative attacks on other companies. Onwards!鈥�
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