Microsoft vs. Google: effective campaign or double-edged sword?

"Google knocks you", claims Microsoft is aggressive campaign trying to migrate users of its services. But whom apparently not very different picture
War between Microsoft and Google users go up, thanks to an aggressive campaign first operated in recent months, and especially heated up this week.
Microsoft in November 2012 raised campaign claims Google's shopping site (Google Shopping) does not display search results clean. Microsoft has stated that the service is used to compare the prices of products and services presents the user only the results of companies that pay Google. This differs from a search engine ping, Microsoft, presents results based on the price of the product, its relevance to the search word or by other filters - in any case, regardless of the payment by the advertiser.
Scroogled, Microsoft called its campaign against rival - a blatant pun (Microsoft to decorum and Conservative), which combines the words Google to Screw (knock), thus implying that Google knocks you. Campaign and video ads on the site were dedicated at scroogled.com. This was not the first frontal attack: February 2012 Microsoft brought an aggressive campaign, based on a video called Gmail Man, it applies the changes Google made Gmail service charter.




"Think that Google respects your privacy? Important again"

Most users do not know the e-mail content scanning
The current process leading campaign Mark Penn - former political adviser to U.S. Democratic Party, recently joined Microsoft. Again accused Google of privacy violation users - this time Gmail e-mail service. This time the allegations were based on a survey of one thousand visitors. The survey found that most respondents (70%) did not know or did not believe the e-mail provider scans a user's personal message, and pulls them keywords used to serve ads financed through the Service. A large part of the respondents (83%) indicated that intentional harm privacy, and almost all (89%) agreed that there should avoid e-mail provider to scan the user's mail messages to targeted advertisements.
Again select Penn use the site scroogled basis smear campaign. Shows the site has changed, and if the last time the page's background color was white, this time is red shouting - in order to get the user to war. The red background is a title that says: "think that Google respects your privacy? Think again," and below summarizing the arguments against Google. Two buttons on the page leading petition against Google have signed so far more than 3,000 users and service - mail "Outlook" Microsoft. The company also tries to 'warm up' the guys, when it offers site links will be used to warn the members of Google threatening invasive. This prodding along the quotes are executives, including Google CEO Larry Page and Google chairman Eric Schmidt revealed by the search giant's control of the user data and surveillance.


E - mail is just the tip of the iceberg

Yes advertising disengagement mechanism by scanning. Gmail (screenshot)
Is Microsoft's move is surprising? Probably not. Real competition between companies is not new, and is now mainly revolves around the question of what tools the user uses. Is he using Microsoft's search engine ping, or that of Google? Is he calling E Gmail or Outlook? Is to produce and store documents and presentations he uses Office and SkyDrive or drive the Google Drive?
Into the puzzle of this conflict can be added to the mobile operating system Google Android vs. Windows Phone Microsoft, Chrome OS computers with Windows OS and Chrome browser with Internet Explorer. Competition for the hearts and pocket of the user in a variety of levels, and focus on price comparison service or e-mail is just the tip of the iceberg.
The campaign Microsoft claims that Google users can not stop the display of ads in Gmail, and thus stop the scanning of individual commercials. This argument is incorrect. Google provides a possible mechanism disconnect personal ads (it performs matching by scanning messages) at the touch of a button. After disengagement will continue to run ads, some still be based on the observed message, but they will not be based on personal information that Google collects user's posts. However, the disengagement has a price: those who wish to do so will amount greater awareness by 6% of those not disconnected. Another advantage lies in making personal advertisements, is the ability to "black list" of publishing them want to get promotional content.

None of the companies do not give anything for free

Also offers targeted advertisements. Outlook e-mail service (screenshot)
Google also lets read mail without ads at a variety of tools. You can open Gmail in HTML, you can pull another mail program messages using POP or IMAP feature, you can route all messages to another e-mail address using the automatic forwarding, and if you are a business or own your own domain, you can open an account in Google Apps for Business and for 50 dollars a year to clean mail advertising. Google also opened a special page explaining how users can protect the privacy of the network and provides tools to do so.
Is the validity of Microsoft's argument still stands in front of Google's attempts to preserve the privacy of the user? Probably so, but less. Probably due to the fact that it displays targeted advertisements Outlook.com service, the online version of the e-mail manufactures. Although this case is not about a scan of user posts, but still used his personal characteristics, such as age, sex and residential area. I wonder how they would respond to the same survey respondents Microsoft on this information.
A further similarity is the option offered by Microsoft - like Google - to remove the ads from the mailbox, and costs $ 20 per year. A little cheaper, but still stresses the point that none of the companies do not give anything for free.


Comparative released by Microsoft. Also imperfect
Campaign is the result of despair?

Extreme reaction after all the competitors passed round? Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (Photo: Reuters)
Q. Does scroogled helps Microsoft? The impression is that the smear campaign functions for the software giant double-edged sword that reveals both the naked truth behind the industry "Free services" online, and the despair of a company that before the era of smartphones was the reigning queen of the industry's operating systems for computers, has had to watch the competitors various bypass it round.
Nature of public relations activities in which war has taken Microsoft against Google comes perhaps due to the relatively weak sales of the new operating system Windows 8, and in light of the success of the mobile operating system Windows Phone as a marketing platform. According to last quarter's sales in 2012, about 69% smartphones were shipped to customers based on Google's Android, and data published by the Opera Company show that Android is also marketing platform has achieved the most advertising exposure (impressions) in the same quarter.
There is also a fundamental question that Microsoft did not treat her (or maybe treat it like an obvious answer): Is there any problem in a fully automated, without human intervention, which scans texts, e - mail and matches ads to them? The Gmail Man Microsoft introduced its first campaign on the subject is a real person, but this is not the case with Gmail - the 'reading' it is done by computers, and certainly not by people.

You know it's not a person that 'read' your email, right?
Microsoft also floating on a cloud

No wonder then that Microsoft decided to attack the fairness property of Google in order to present it as a machine that takes cash unsuspecting surfer. Reality - Microsoft works the same methods of Google. Services such as Office and Outlook, were once independent software-based client computer, go to the model 'cloud' just like Gmail or Google Drive - a model based on a free service for viewing advertisements. Even search engine ping, displays advertisements sponsored the first results of the search - just like Google, and comparing the prices of engine ping, no clear explanation of how to work the mechanism that determines the results. Google at least decent enough to put the cards on the table.