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Microsoft's New Google Attack Ad Tells Users Not To Get "Scroogled"

Outlook Takes On Gmail In New "Scroogled" Attack Ad
Alexis Kleinman
By 

Deputy Managing Editor Of Impact & Innovation, The Huffington Post

TO GO WITH AFP STORY US-IT-INTERNET-RETAIL-ADVERTISE-GOOGLE-MICROSOFT BY ROB LEVER A woman looks at a computer site on November 30, 2012 in Washington, DC. - Just in time for the holidays, Microsoft and Google have become embroiled in a bitter dispute over who is the fairest of them all for online shopping, stepping up the battle between the tech giants.Microsoft threw the first punch when it launched a campaign for its Bing search engine 'to highlight Bing's commitment to honest search results.' The campaign also seeks 'to help explain to consumers the risks of Google Shopping's newly announced 'pay-to-rank' practice,' a Microsoft statement said. As part of the campaign, Microsoft created a Web page called 'Scroogled,' which points out that its rival has reversed course on its pledge at the time of the Google stock offering to avoid paid ad inclusion for search results. AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
TO GO WITH AFP STORY US-IT-INTERNET-RETAIL-ADVERTISE-GOOGLE-MICROSOFT BY ROB LEVER A woman looks at a computer site on November 30, 2012 in Washington, DC. - Just in time for the holidays, Microsoft and Google have become embroiled in a bitter dispute over who is the fairest of them all for online shopping, stepping up the battle between the tech giants.Microsoft threw the first punch when it launched a campaign for its Bing search engine 'to highlight Bing's commitment to honest search results.' The campaign also seeks 'to help explain to consumers the risks of Google Shopping's newly announced 'pay-to-rank' practice,' a Microsoft statement said. As part of the campaign, Microsoft created a Web page called 'Scroogled,' which points out that its rival has reversed course on its pledge at the time of the Google stock offering to avoid paid ad inclusion for search results. AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Microsoft wants to keep you from getting "scroogled."

Determined to wrestle the title of top email provider from Gmail, Microsoft is directly attacking Google in new commercials for its Outlook service. In the ads, Microsoft warns that Gmail reads through emails to create targeted ads -- which Microsoft declares an invasion of privacy -- and cautions people to avoid being "scroogled" by Gmail and switch to Microsoft Outlook.

Google has been going through everyone's emails for a long time.

On the company's "Scroogled" website, Microsoft describes how Google's Gmail service scans through users' sent and received email messages to display targeted ads.

It's not as if Outlook isn't also looking into your mailbox -- Microsoft just doesn't use the information in it to sell ads. Outlook still "scans the contents of your email to help protect you and display, categorize, and sort your mail appropriately," the company says on its "Scroogled" site.

Microsoft's search engine, Bing, has also targeted Google in commercials, asking people to take the "Bing challenge" and decide for themselves if they prefer results from Bing or Google.

Microsoft used the same term, "Scroogled," in the company's holiday ads for Bing last year. In those ads, Microsoft attacked Google's search practices, warning viewers not to get "Scroogled."

Some users on Twitter are using the Microsoft hashtag #Scroogled to speak negatively about the company, rather than to complain about Gmail as intended.

Microsoft is very desperate #scroogled

— Tyler Bell (@Maroonmushroom) February 7, 2013

The campaign's "Scroogled" Facebook page has 76 "likes" as of Thursday afternoon.

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