Microsoft Ad Campaign Seeks to Tell Users They are Getting "Scroogled"

A year ago this February, Microsoft launched its "Scroogled" advertisement campaign, targeting Google's "Google Docs," a word-processing service. The advertisement featured what ABC News characterized as a "corny song" and a character named Googen Apperson. Microsoft contended that in comparison to Google Docs, its own Microsoft Office are more reliable.

Microsoft's latest attack ad launched this February targeting Google's "Gmail." "We don't go through your emails to sell ads," a narrator says in the latest installment of the ad campaign. (See ad below).

This ad criticizes Google for reading user emails and using them to sell targeted advertising and touts its own Outlook email service as more privacy friendly. "Google goes through every Gmail that's sent or received, looking for keywords so they can target Gmail with paid ads. And there's no way to opt out of this invasion of your privacy," Microsoft's Scroogled.com site says. "Outlook.com is different -- we don't go through your email to sell ads," Microsoft goes on to say. Similar statements are made in the commercial, which also uses a quote from Google's Executive Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt saying, "There is what I call the creepy line. The Google policy on a lot of things is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it."

Microsoft also released this companion ad:

Additionally, Microsoft started a petition that encourages individual's to ask Google to "stop going through your emails to sell ads." ABC News reported the day the petition went up (Feb. 7, 2013) that more than 1,000 people had already signed it. As of today (Feb. 15, 2007) the Microsoft website says 6,717 people have signed the petition. The company's goal is to get 25,000 signatures. Microsoft claims 88 percent of Americans disprove of email services that scan email content to target ads, according to an ABC News report. They also claim two-thirds of Americans do not know whether any major email providers use the practice, according to Politico.


“It’s kind of an ‘a-ha’ thing for us,” said Stefan Weitz, Microsoft’s senior director of online services. “We always kind of knew that people didn’t really read the terms of service necessarily and weren’t totally informed, but to see that high a number and then to see the massive blowback when people actually find out what’s going on was pretty surprising for us.”


In response to the ad campaign, Samantha Smith, a Google spokesperson, told ABC News, "Advertising keeps Google and many of the websites and services Google offers free of charge. We work hard to make sure that ads are safe, unobtrusive and relevant." Google explains its advertising policies to users on its website.

In another statement regarding Microsoft's privacy allegations, Google said: "No humans read your email or Google account information in order to show you advertisements or related information. An automated algorithm — similar to that used for features like Priority Inbox or spam filtering — determines which ads are shown."

Microsoft Outlook also includes advertising, but they only appear on the Inbox page. Microsoft told ABC News it uses larger demographic information  including age, gender, and zip code, that are collected from users when they sign-up to provide advertising.

The Verge, a technology news and media network, noted, there was some backlash to the ads with some critics saying the ads spread "fear, uncertainty, and doubt." The article focuses on comparisons of negative political ads with the increased use of negative advertising cropping up among technology companies. (Example: "The I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ads.) According to Dr. John Geer, who studies campaign advertising at Vanderbilt University, "We may start to see more negative campaigning around tech products, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If they realize there's money to be made by being a bit more negative, they will." he said. "And the end result is the American public being more informed."

This ad campaign is in interesting case study in what we have discussed much of the semester. People may say they are "creeped out" or concerned over their privacy, but does their behavior match that sentiment? Millions of people use Gmail services and many may assert concern over Google's practices. But only 6,700 people have signed Microsoft's petition. It is also unlikely many people will actually switch to using Outlook out of pure concern over their privacy. The Verge article also suggests Microsoft services really may not really be that much of a "better" option. It will be interesting to see if Americans do end up more informed about privacy issues through tech companies' attacks on one another in their battle for a share of the market.