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Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

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Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#91
You know what? This is good for Google - Based on the idea that "Any publicity is good publicity". So, Microsoft is shelling out huge dollars to make Google popular.

As far as searches are concerned, based on my experience using the two extensively, I think for atleast another decade, I will find myself 'Googling' more than 'Binging'.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#92
post #33

I find it hilarious that I emotionally support Google enough that my immediate reaction is "HEY ITS NOT SO BAD" when I see this page; and then roll my eyes at the petition. At the same time I don't use facebook for privacy issues and the thing I am always going to do tomorrow is set up my own mail server. Brains are funny like that.

Is it only an emotional reaction, though?

When an algorithm sifts through my e-mail the result is that I see a more targeted ad.

When I mess up and inappropriately share something on Facebook it is obvious to lots of people in my life. (And, of course, Facebook tends to vomit up some sort of privacy outrage every five months, so there is always the nagging worry that something one did share in a reasonable way is now being seen in a way one didn't intend under the old "rules of the road".

While some people may care about privacy as an abstract first principle, I imagine many people are more concerned about the consequences of other people knowing something about them.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#93
post #33

I find it hilarious that I emotionally support Google enough that my immediate reaction is "HEY ITS NOT SO BAD" when I see this page; and then roll my eyes at the petition. At the same time I don't use facebook for privacy issues and the thing I am always going to do tomorrow is set up my own mail server. Brains are funny like that.

[deleted]

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#94
Can you imagine how funny an anti-Microsoft ad campaign along the same lines would be? Microsoft is trying to start a gunfight and it's armed with a nerf axe.

As a cynical admirer of Google I don't care for the way advertising drives everything it does, but I cannot remember the last time I noticed an ad in gmail (Twitter, for example, manages to be far worse while still appearing not to have a business model.)

Meanwhile, Microsoft, the original f. you, f. everybody, software company is shipping an OS with advertising and junkware baked into it. Who else is doing that?

Are you sure this is where you want to go today Microsoft? Yes. No. Abort. Retry. Cancel. OK.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#95

Can you imagine how funny an anti-Microsoft ad campaign along the same lines would be? Microsoft is trying to start a gunfight and it's armed with a nerf axe. As a cynical admirer of Google I don't care for the way advertising drives everything it does, but I cannot remember the last time I noticed an ad in gmail (Twitter, for example, manages to be far worse while still appearing not to have a business model.) Meanw…

Meanwhile, Microsoft, the original f. you, f. everybody aoftware company is shipping an OS with advertising and junkware baked into it. Who else is doing that?

Canonical.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#96

Can you imagine how funny an anti-Microsoft ad campaign along the same lines would be? Microsoft is trying to start a gunfight and it's armed with a nerf axe. As a cynical admirer of Google I don't care for the way advertising drives everything it does, but I cannot remember the last time I noticed an ad in gmail (Twitter, for example, manages to be far worse while still appearing not to have a business model.) Meanw…

Meanwhile, Microsoft, the original f. you, f. everybody aoftware company is shipping an OS with advertising and junkware baked into it. Who else is doing that? Canonical.

Haha. Well luckily they're not running these ads.

I note in another post in this thread that it appears MS is doing exactly what gmail does AS WELL so as usual MS wins the chutzpah award on top of everything else.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#97
Microsoft has trotted their old friend "Get The Facts" out again! Back in the 2000s, they ran a very long anti-Linux campaign under the "Get The Facts" banner. Under this program they paid for many dubious "Total Cost of Ownership" studies, all of which found that Microsoft products were cheaper than those based on Linux.

It was a PR disaster for Microsoft as far as the geek community was concerned and they eventually pulled the plug. I can't believe anybody in Redmond actually gave the green light to bring this slogan back. This type of aggression just makes MS look like smug pricks.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#98
post #87

I think this is a sign of Microsoft's desperation to stay relevant. Most of the Surface reviews have spoken poorly about the device. Windows RT hasn't been well received. They've tried to revamp their entire image -- with new hardware, software, and extensive marketing -- with limited success. "Look at how cool our product is" hasn't worked for them, so they're resorting to "look at how terrible their product is." Yo…

"Most of the Surface reviews have spoken poorly about the device."

What reviews have you been reading?

Edit: Regarding the actual topic, this is just "normal" PR it's a way to scare people into swapping from gmail to outlook.com unfortunately it works better than many might think. Microsoft aren't the only ones doing PR like this it's a lot more common than you might think.

I think PR like this _can_ be good for two reasons: raise awareness of the issue that Google scans your e-mails and make people aware that there are other worthy alternatives to gmail.

I noticed that in one of the "cases" listed on the page by Microsoft one e-mail is about a credit card debt where someone might have overused their credit limit and might be in trouble. The ads that pop up from this is such ads giving advice on how to get new loans to cover the credit card debt which is really not a nice way of helping someone that is already in trouble.

I think that Microsoft could (and maybe should) have less aggressive PR about competitors and just focus on the good parts about outlook.com.

Anyways, I'm probably biased because I love Microsoft and whatever they do and I own all their awesome devices.

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#99
post #87

I think this is a sign of Microsoft's desperation to stay relevant. Most of the Surface reviews have spoken poorly about the device. Windows RT hasn't been well received. They've tried to revamp their entire image -- with new hardware, software, and extensive marketing -- with limited success. "Look at how cool our product is" hasn't worked for them, so they're resorting to "look at how terrible their product is." Yo…

You point about desperation to stay relevant may be correct, but I don't think this has anything to do with the surface reviews.

This campaign launched last year before the poor surface reviews came out. http://searchengineland.com/microsoft-attacks-google-with-sc...

Re: Aggressive negative advertising by Microsoft against Google.

#100
post #26
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is definitely by Microsoft. The site uses the following nameservers, which are under Microsoft control and cannot be forged. ns3.msft.net ns4.msft.net ns1.msft.net ns2.msft.net ns5.msft.net Pathetic stuff.

But google DO go through every message to sell ads. How is this pathetic? Some people don't like the fact that their emails are used in that way, so focusing on that is just marketing. No different to google running ads for chrome saying "it's faster"... it IS, and some people care about that.

I feel like MS is trying to mislead people into believing that GMail employees go through your mail (they superpose inquisitive human eyes over the gmail video for instance).

It's quite a different issue if it's just a computer program parsing your data. After all, SMTP programs go through your your email too.

I'm all for people caring more about their privacy and be more educated about giving their personal infos online, but the solution to that is PGP, not Outlook.

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