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Microsoft's Anti-Google Video Campaign
eldavojohn writes "As the presidential race heats up, the smear ads on TV are also increasing. But Microsoft isn't going to site idly by and let the politicians engage in all that song and dance — and Microsoft really does employ both song and dance. Their Youtube channel appears to be slowly transforming from trade show videos and launches into a marketing attack or propaganda campaign that only targets Google (both videos I've watched seemed to have nothing positive about Microsoft in them). Under a month ago, they launched a spoof called GMail man, a creepy guy that flips through all your GMail and serves up super personal ads that are wrong (although they never say if Hotmail engages in targeted marketing). And a few days ago Googlighting shows up to spread fear and uncertainty about Google Docs. Most amusing to this viewer was that I found no such trace of 'Googlighting' on Bing's video service."
Who owns youtube?
Don't ever change.
... has a video service?
Seriously though, it isn't good for one service to weild as much power as youtube over which videos will be promoted to fame and which are left lingering in obscurity.
Sincere thanks to Microsoft of entertaining me. Ranks right up there with Bill's infamous butt wiggle.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
The points the Googlighting video try to make is that Google has an unknown track record with office applications, their products lack features compared to the competition, and they have a track record of starting projects and abandoning them without much warning, especially cloud applications. So when Microsoft asks, "is this a product you want to bet your business on?" while it may be FUD, it's a pertinent question.
Have to love the american way of advertising!! The Gmail man was kinda funny though. They would had a better effect with, " So Mr. Anderson you've been searching for Hemorroids!!!"
An opportunity like this doesn't come often these days. Cue the M$ bashing!!! :D
Ok, Microsoft has done countless "evils" in the past and still does, but with that being said, they do a wonderful job of pointing out the privacy issues of Gmail and the risks of implementing Google Apps. Googlighting was an excellent and humorous video as well.
Maybe if Google and MS duke it out enough, all of their little wrong-doings will get pointed out, fixed, and society may actually advance! Or perhaps we will just sit around and watch some mudslinging while our privacy is further reduced. I'm feeling pessimistic at the moment and leaning towards the latter.
While I am not a fan of google's practices of late, how often has Microsoft not been a FUD spewer?
It is ingrained in their culture.
Silence is a state of mime.
...but it sure does rhyme -- Mark Twain
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
you wouldn't know it.
Apple is no longer the company that MS had to prop up (with a cash investment and an MS Office port) for the pretence of competition - they are now the biggest company in the world.
But MS seems OK with that - they still act like Google is their real competitor. Is it because Google is competing in the online space and Apple isn't? Or is because Apple has enormous margins and MS sees this as a positive development in the industry - whereas Google tends to offer things for free and push MS towards lower margins?
I have no idea, but one of these days MS should get over their Google fixation and start thinking about competing with Apple too.
And BTW, Kudos to Google. One of the reasons I'm a fan of theirs is that they seem to compete fiercely with everyone!
Most amusing to this viewer was that I found no such trace of 'Googlighting' on Bing's video service."
Then you didn't look very hard.
who slag off the opposition. What I really want to hear is why they are better, not rude reasons why the opposition is bad. This sort of thing is a complete turn off -- no matter who does it. Mud sticks to the hands of those who throw it.
When I see articles like this, I cannot stop thinking it seems familiar of way back when kings and emperors from different countries get in a tizzy which leads to economic, political shifts and/or wars that impacts commoners (that never had a say on the whole matter anyway).
mfwright@batnet.com
Woah, you need to be online to use Google Docs (ignoring offline mode)?
So Microsoft's Office 365 magically works without an internet connection?
MS, and Apple, have a common enemy. So, for now, MS is all buddy-buddy with Apple.
Anybody familiar with MS knows that MS will turn on Apple in half a second; if MS thinks that's whats in MS's best interest.
Right now, the first priority is to stomp Google.
If you are upset about the idea of a computer reading your mail, then how can you justify using email at all?
Does the MS-Word spelling checker "read" your Word documents?
Microsoft don't need to compete with Apple.
Microsoft are primarily interested in the corporate market - business and government.
Everything else just flows on with that due to the need to be compatible.
Apple has spoken recently of their inroads into business as a "collateral win", an unintended bonus.
They are putting zero effort into replicating or replacing the core feature set that any large business relies on (exchange, active directory, etc).
The reason that Microsoft is scared of Google is that they are actively attempting to make the underlying system immaterial as the Google services become the compatibility glue.
Who cares if the underlying system is running Windows, OSX, Linux or something else when the end user gets exactly the same experience?
That's what Microsoft is scared of, not a high end device manufacturer that interoperates with them.
Interestingly, OS X Mountain Lion will include some built-in sharing features, and while Vimeo is included, YouTube is not. Ever since Android, Google has not been getting much love from Apple....
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
Say what you will about google or MS... but the ads themselves were hilarious.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Eh, maybe some people out there haven't heard of "targeted advertising." After telling YouTube to e-mail me in Japanese, just for kicks, I started getting some hilarious and kind of creepy ads sent my way. Prior, I saw mostly men's products and electronics.
G-mail isn't the only context they use for ad placement, though. Either way, Google gives me free stuff, and makes my web surfing a bit more surreal. I consider it a fair trade.
Microsoft's video is rather crass, but maybe it'll be educational for someone who wouldn't take the Faustian bargain were they fully informed. It's kind of refreshing seeing advertising based on the relative merits of the respective products rather than "Bud Light Summons Women," but on the other hand... Office 365.
DATABASE WOW WOW
I love it that Microsoft uses YouTube (owned by Google) for this. The use of negative ads is tasteless. Then again, it's an election year so it's fashionable.
Just watching the videos and reading comments on them. Wow... this SERIOUSLY looks like it is backfiring for Microsloth.
Sure, Mac has been making strides, and I have a friend who swears by 'Pages' and 'Keynote,' but it's the iPhone, iPod, and iPad that have made Apple the behemoth it is today. Microsoft would love to make money in these markets as well, but they already ARE raking in tons of cash from MS office, and Exchange servers and other software for businesses. That is where Google (and not Apple) can really hurt them, and with the shift toward cloud services, MS is right to fear Google, and they have some decent points to be made about consistency and long-term reliability that you can reasonably expect from Microsoft.
Always a pleasure to find another Cracked.com reader.
Carry on.
cat
The reason is simple. Microsoft used to be a role model for geeks for a few years and has been displaced by Google. Now all geeks hate Microsoft and love Google which represents a complete about turn for Microsoft. So this Google fixation is a simple case of butt hurt and Microsoft should get over it if they know what's good for them.
Cracked's ads always seem more surreal than most. I wonder if their adsense goes to 11.
DATABASE WOW WOW
The GMail Man video is at least 6 months old. Where have you been?
Japanese Lolita fashion has nothing to do with the book. Although it is very fricking bizarre stuff.
The Giant Cheese is partitionated to many companies as Google, IBM, Red Hat, Oracle, Microsoft and Apple.
Personally, i like the 3 first former, and i hate the 3 last latter.
And now, i'll do holes to the Giant Cheese secretively as if i'm a spy-rat.
JCPM: BWHAHAHAHA
I've seen this sort of video before from Microsoft. This is classic, not really anything new.
These sound more interesting than they really are. Both of those videos are like Saturday Night Live sketches that have thirty seconds of humor padded out to two-and-a-half minutes.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Moble's the next market and Android's already beating Microsoft there. Not to mention that if Google decided to bring Android to a PC environment it would start up immediately with easy access to all the apps in the Anrdroid Marketplace. No other MS competitor has ever brought that many potential ready-to-run applications with their environment. Google could trounce Microsoft across all the markets they service, if Google were so inclined. That idea is bound to be making some sphincters clench in Redmond.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
It is because MS is still fixated on stifling open source software from the market place. They see Google as a HUGE threat because they see Google as having let the open source horse out of the barn and now you have companies such as Samsung, Motorola, Amazon, Barnes and Noble among others that are deploying this on devices all over the place. They don't see Apple as a threat that way. Microsoft has always wanted to see their OS on everything ....everything. The widespread use of open source in the marketplace is Microsoft's biggest nightmare.
Bing has a video service?
What's the matter if YouTube is not compatible for IE-explorer of PC or Mobile device of Windows? Google wins.
What's the matter if YouTube is not compatible for Safari of Apple G5 or iPhone/iPad? Google wins twice.
What's the matter if YouTube is compatible for ChromeOS of PC/linux or Android? Google wins three times.
What's the matter if YouTube is compatible for Firefox of PC/linux but not of PC/windows? Google wins four times.
If M$ did decide which platform will be working its M$ Office and which not, then Google can do the same with its Youtube.
Identical for owned Apple's StuffIt, iTunes, iPod, QuickTime, etc.
JCPM: Google, didn't you learn it before? Mutually Assured Incompatibilitier.
Since all these major corps are so happy to sue each other for every stupid thing (including patents), isn't this sue-worthy? I don't live in USA, so I can't be sure in detail, but in Argentina, google/gmail would pretty much be able to prove that MS is degrading their image, and making them loose potential money. Isn't this so in USA as well? I'm pretty sure it probably is.
An, since some of the thing implied are actually non-true, there's a major point there.
Besides, since when do companies need a REAL motive to sue each other.
The actual but unintentional message of this video is that Microsoft is tragically unhip. Like comb-over unhip.
Microsoft don't need to compete with Apple.
Microsoft are primarily interested in the corporate market - business and government.
Have you seen all the screenshots and videos of Windows 8?
http://www.un-productivity.com
"Google's YouTuboffice doesn't work on windows" vs "M$Offitube doesn't work on linux".
JCPM: Google, didn't you learn it before? Mutually Assured Incompatibilitier.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=googlighting&qs=n&form=QBLH&pq=googlighting&sc=8-9&sp=-1&sk=
After learning that Microsoft is one of 19 members of the far-right wing Heartland Institute, that is creating curricula for elementary and high schools that teach the "controversy" of global warming, I will not pay for another Microsoft product. They will get none of my money. If I had an XBox, I would mod it or hack it or whatever it is that you do to them that Microsoft doesn't like.
And I'll never use Bing.
You are welcome on my lawn.
The reason that Microsoft is scared of Google is that they are actively attempting to make the underlying system immaterial as the Google services become the compatibility glue. Who cares if the underlying system is running Windows, OSX, Linux or something else when the end user gets exactly the same experience?
This.
Microsoft can compete with Apple, because the two companies use roughly the same model. Apple prefers to sell hardware and more or less give the software away, while Microsoft sells the software, but it's basically the same deal to consumers. Even more important, both companies build their business around the lock-in game, making consumers pick between the two ecosystems and to buy (with $) into one or the other. The friction provided by lock-in means that neither has to worry about being out-innovated in the short term. They may have ups and downs, but the billions will keep flowing. It's a comfortable playing field, and one that Microsoft has long proven they can dominate.
But Google wants to change the game entirely by making the operating system irrelevant. You can argue about whether or not Google's services have their own form of lock-in and change-resisting friction, but the main point is that Google's approach makes the hardware and software platform of the end-user's device irrelevant. Google wants the web to become a powerful but standardized application platform so that lock-ins at the level of the CPU, operating system, or even the browser go away, and everyone has to compete at the application level. That game is not one in which Microsoft will have many of their traditional advantages.
Personally, I think Microsoft still has huge advantages in a web-platform world. Microsoft employs a lot of really smart people and has huge cash reserves. Microsoft also has a pretty good start on building out the massive infrastructure needed to compete on "web scale". So I think MS has plenty of chances to continue making a lot of money even if Google "wins" and OS becomes irrelevant, but they'll have to work harder for it than they're accustomed to doing.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I agree and disagree. The main threats to Microsoft's business model is Linux and LibreOffice (or any other free office suit, really). The scariest thing, for Microsoft, about these things is that they're free. That's not small margin, that's no margin. Since Google facilitates open source by making platforms irrelevant, as you've pointed out, they're seen as a menace. But they're also a menace because they're a dominant player on the internet, which is where pretty much all computing has moved that's MS's business.
I think that given the fact that they have to compete against free products when it comes to servers and Office, they've been looking for a backup in high-margin markets. This means competing with Apple. Google. Sony. Motorola. Windows Phones and XBoxes. Tablet computers. Profit margins for software will always decrease until they hit zero. Depending on the sophistication and demand for the software, it may take certain certain things longer to drop to zero than others, but eventually only custom software will cost anything. I think Apple had the right model all along, they were just before their time, computers hadn't progressed to commodity status in the 80s and 90s. They were very much tied to one's job. Now our phones are computers and the internet has shat on exclusive platforms. Microsoft has to change their business model before LibreOffice sinks MS Office, before they lose their leverage with hardware manufacturers who won't want to pay shit for Windows licenses because Linux will be a suitable alternative.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
Does Google have access to the contents of your personal email? Do they scan the contents and store those contents to deliver ads? Do they build advertising profiles using your private data? There is nothing factually incorrect in the video.
If you had actually read Marx you'd know that he avoided laying out a blueprint for an alternative system. There are multiple reasons for that: his dislike of utopian socialists, his focus on analysis & critique of capitalism, & his hegelianism come to mind right away. He tended to think that the Paris Commune got a lot of stuff right. It's true that some of the problems of the analysis negatively influenced actually existing socialism, but still, there's no plan for the Soviet state in Capital or anything like that.
I remember when I restarted a correspondence with an ex-gf of many years, I got a very creepy Gmail text ad next to one of her messages. Its title was something like "Rekindling an old romance?" Now, our emails had nothing suggestive or lewd in them at all; we really were just innocently catching up, or so it seemed to me. But what's weird is that within weeks of this, we really did (briefly) resume a romantic relationship. I kept thinking "Google knew! Before even I knew!!!".
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How is it that one of the wealthiest corporations in the world always manages to find the most pathetic ad producers?
This is hysterically lame (just like all their other campaigns), and not in a self-aware, ironic sort of way; more of a Microsoft is that "special" kid in the class and doesn't realize it ... sort of way.
Sorry Microsoft, you're not the cool kid and you never will be.
i haven't really been a Microsoft consumer in a couple of years as I've gotten more into Linux. Does MS let people go onto their sites and post derogatory stuff about them and their products in this fashion?
I ask this because I have been to some sites where if you start posting stuff of this nature on their forums, about either the Company or it's products, your posts quickly disappear.
I personally hope Google leaves the stuff MS is posting alone. Not because MS is correct, but because I think it shows a little class on Google's part that they can take this type of criticism and allow it's posting on their servers.
I think the real question is, "have you?" lol
Yes, I have. Now, care to explain what about that whole Metro business looks like it's tailored to "corporate market"?
All I can say is, Microsoft has got to be one of the best, if not THE best, competitor of all time (I'mma let you finish). Seriously. They lose nearly half a billion dollars per year on Bing and the rest of their online services, yet are oddly happy to do it. And this keeps Google search slightly under the 70% market share number generally used as a monopoly indicator. They also point out all the problems with various Google products that people might have, forcing Google to fix them. And alongside all of that, Microsoft's own products are either clearly inferior (Bing, Hotmail) or arguably inferior (Office) depending on your stance. The worst thing that could happen to Google would be for Microsoft to go away. FUD all you want MSFT, it's exactly what Google needs.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
mod parent up
//TODO: create a signature
And a few days ago Googlighting shows up to spread fear and uncertainty about Google Docs.
The only fear and uncertainty I experienced on watching that embarrassingly cheesy video was the fear that Microsoft would make another one like it, and the uncertainty that they'd ever hire a decent agency to do the job instead of the audio/video nerds from the local community college. Surely that wasn't the work of professionals, was it?
I'll explain it.
Tablets.
It's the last realm of corporate computing that Microsoft has yet to envelop. At least for the oil & gas market, the first company to make a decent tablet that can run standard corporate apps & be rugged enough for the field is going to make a killing. And it's hitting the point where it's feasible. Tablet's are getting powerful enough that they can run a full fledged OS, with enough graphics power / memory / processor to run decent field software.
I could also see this being big in construction, health care, education. Any field where there's a lot of paper being used right now, and people are typically mobile.
Really?
How's that Open Source version of GMail working for you? How about google docs? Oh, wait...that thing they are REALLY known for...that's open source, right? Yeah...the google search appliance...all open source there...
oh wait...other than Android, a browser, and a bunch of crappy add-ons, NOTHING THEY DO IS OPEN SOURCE.
Unless each an every company uses only google docs then MS doesn't have to worry. Our company uses GoogleDocs, and still we need MS Office because we get documents from clients as MS Office documents. So actually we have to pay twice now.
"Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
Relative merits? The video is flawed because it's a MACHINE doing the reading of keywords not an actual HUMAN. Replace the Gmail man with Gmail robot and the video loses it's effect, IMO...
I think the OP was specifically talking about Android.
Because as everyone knows, Microsoft’s Bing uses Google search results—and denies it.
And if Google was doing this to MS, the slashdot-crowd would applaud it.... Thank god for double standards...
Nevertheless, I don't see anything unusual here. Company X attacks his competitor Company Y... seems like business as usual...
...You are over-qualified and under-paid. If we give you a raise, we will break the cosmic balance of the universe.
Pathetic... Microsoft is dead.
I'm not sure what the big deal is with targeted advertising. So what if it tries to give you better ad results, I ignore ads anyway. I used to use adblock but found my browsing experience didn't improve at all, since I already paid so little attention to ads.
Until and unless Google starts doing far more sinister things with my personal info (I don't regard search histories as exceptionally personal either), I'm going to continue to use their products because of what they offer me.
...have always distinguished themselves by good taste. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGO2hVA3P58
Yeah, like Hotmail does not do mails scanning and MS loves you.
Please.
If you are using any free service, then you are the product. You messages and actions will be catalogued, mined, indexed, profiled and sold for profit. If you do not understand that, then you are an idiot.
Ugh, WTF did I just watch?
You are in the west, a westener presumably and select to have Japanese language for kick? That shouts anime fanboy (I should know) and those ads target anime fans in the west.
If you said you were a women and got targetted with ads for women, would you consider that strange too?
Oh and lolita in this context means cheery goth, lots of lace that doesn't have to be black. Granted, it is younger women that tend to dress up like this (lots of accessories and details) while older women tend to drift towards simpler outfits (Chanel black dress) but japan fans seem to go against this tendency.
Try this, ask Youtube to mail you in Klingon and see what ads you get.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
let me be a little bit more detailed for you since you seem not to have the cranial power to see for your self.. THey see Google as having made open source OPERATING SYSTEMS popular.
"nose in every colon"... Classy stuff!
What's Microsoft?? O_O
5+ Great Ad for Google, by Google.
Under a month ago, they launched a spoof called GMail man
No, the YouTube video you have featured was _posted_ less than a month ago, 10 seconds of checking found reference to this video over 6 months ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFCSp23xl40
I'm sorry but businesses will always try to show the weaknesses of their competitors, yes this isn't subtle but it's also not particularly special. Let them spend money on trying to trash Google while everyone else spends that money on dev and better products.
Oh and good work on giving them lots of views to encourage more of this behaviour.
For example:
The NSA goes through your email to, except instead of personalized ads, they throw your into a windowless van with a bag over your head.
Instead of not using Google, or not using Hotmail, how about stricter privacy laws?
"Under a month ago, they launched a spoof called GMail man"
Clearly not. They have just re uploaded the video to their YouTube channel.
From 6 Months Ago - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFCSp23xl40
If you are a person, then yes I would care. If you are a spell checker program, then no I would not care.
Unless you are worried about an algorithm "knowing" your data. No person at Google, or elsewhere is looking at your ever-so-personal email.
The algorithm used in MS-Word probably "knows" as much of your personal data.
And who can say what other inanimate objects "know" about you.
Microsoft plays that game like mad. MS always has.
But, as far as I know, Google does not do that. Even Dart is open source.
If you were emailed enough 2010 files, you would be essentially forced to upgrade. Isn't that nice of Microsoft?
Worrying about google "reading" your email is like worry about ms-word "reading" your word docs.
Maybe some people just aren't ready for computers.
One of the reasons that the iPad is so strong is that it used in health care, and law enforcement. I think the military may be using iPhones.
The ad says says both "pharmacEUtico.com" and "pharmacUEtico.com". So which is it, Microsoft? But what I really want to know is, how long before somebody registers both those domains and posts an anti-Hotmail spoof ad?
Office 365 is a paid only service where the users would be the Alpha Tester and not the product.
There fixed it for you.
Service down, at least once a month. Loose your documents, Microsoft has a few times already, we might find them in a backup.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20015066-251.html
wow, I thought I hated the last design changes they made to the start menu. I refuse to use an os on my desktop that looks like it should be on a cell phone. is this new design for children and people who can't read? hey, look at the pretty pictures! I no longer have to take time reading what I'm clicking on! my desktop needs to be functional. innovation should not take precedence over usability. I'm glad I switched to linux. at least that os gives me options to pick what I want and how it works.