TORONTO – Microsoft has launched a new campaign targeting Google, urging users to dump Google’s email service Gmail in favour of their own Outlook service due to privacy concerns.
“Don’t get scroogled by Gmail,” is the title of the campaign, which accuses Gmail of going through every email sent through the service looking for keywords in order to target users with paid advertisements.
The “scroogled” campaign, whose website mocks Google’s famous multicoloured lettering, urges users to switch to Outlook.com and sign a petition that asks Google to “stop going through emails to sell ads.”
Google, who is aware of Microsoft’s campaign, issued a statement to Global News Thursday stating that humans do not read their users’ emails, account information, or related content.
“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. 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,” read the statement from Google.
The allegations from Microsoft are nothing new.
In 2011, Microsoft released a YouTube video skit titled “Gmail man,” depicting a mail man who reads each piece of mail and memorizing keywords within the messages before delivering the mail.
The video, used to advertize the Microsoft Office 365 system, later resurfaced in February 2012 when Google updated its privacy policy, causing some to believe that the new policy allowed them to make better advertising use out of personal information.
Microsoft targeted Google again in February 2012 with another YouTube video called “Googlighting,” poking fun at Google Apps, a set of web-based business applications that would compete directly with Microsoft’s Office suite.
Google’s advertising techniques have also led to legal problems.
In January, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ruled that Google did not favour their own products and services in their search results, which was considered a major victory for the tech giant. The European Commission is still investigating similar claims.
But Google has been using the same kind of advertising technique since launching Gmail in 2004 and despite criticism from advocacy groups, and competitors like Microsoft, Gmail still remains incredibly popular with 425 million active users.
Microsoft has also come under fire for using targeted ads. A report by the Wall Street Journal noted that Outlook may scan subject lines to look for keywords; for example, you might see ads in Outlook related to skiing if you have emails with things like “ski trip” in the subject line.
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