Microsoft ads deride Google as bad place to shop

[Omaha Steve]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by REP (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: AP-Excite

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft is trying to skewer Google as a lousy holiday shopping guide in its latest attempt to divert more traffic to its Bing search engine.

The attack started Wednesday with a marketing campaign focused on a recent change in the way Google operates the part of its search engine devoted to shopping results. The revisions require merchants to pay Google to have their products listed in the shopping section.

In its new ads, Microsoft Corp. contends the new approach betrays Google Inc.'s longstanding commitment to provide the most trustworthy results on the Web, even if it means foregoing revenue. To punctuate its point, Microsoft is warning consumers that they risk getting "scroogled" if they rely on Google's shopping search service.

The message will be highlighted in TV commercials scheduled to run on NBC and CNN and newspaper ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The blitz also will appear on billboards and online, anchored by a new website, Scroogled.com.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121128/DA2R8FE00.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. Micro what? Micro who?

WTF?

[struggle4progress]

2. I once got badly burned trusting Google's reviews of an online seller, and over the years

I've periodically checked back to see if the Google reviews of that seller were updated -- but they never have been. So I don't trust the Google reviews of online merchants. But there are often plenty of alternative review sites, like ResellerRatings, that one can use

Aside from that, I don't think there's anything wrong with using Google as an online shopping aid: just remember every online seller is a potential scam, so needs to be investigated thoroughly before you decide to purchase

[thesquanderer]

4. The issue is that Google has changed

They used to show you prices on products from a very wide variety of sites. Now they only show prices from companies who agree to pay Google. The change happened earlier this year, so unbeknownst to most people, Google is no longer good for comparison shopping, as they only include Google partners and no longer include many of the lower priced sources that used to come up.

[struggle4progress]

7. Fair enough: that might be a matter for real concern

[1monster]

3. I don't know about Bing search engine, but MS took over Babblefish translator and

changed it to Bing Translator. And Bing Tranlator SUCKS. Half the time it does not translate at all.

So, I think I'll stick with Google for now.

[Orrex]

5. Credit where due

They made the interface less efficient and the translations less reliable. That's a double-whammy that most companies would be too timid to try!

[Lithos]

6. This is not news

Just soft ball reporting that echoes a Microsoft press release.

[REP]

8. Locking

This doesn't fit the SoP of this Forum.