Microsoft's Latest 'Scroogled' Campaign Slams Gmail Ads That Trick You Into Thinking It's Real Mail

You know what they say: the truly powerful just let the haters do their thing, while the insecure worry about building up counter-arguments. Say what you will about the ongoing Microsoft vs. Google battle, but Microsoft sure seems to put up more of a public fight against compared to the other way around. In fact, Microsoft has established an entire campaign that serves to do nothing more than smear Google, called Scroogled.


It's all pretty childish, if we're honest, but it's also fairly humorous if you're able to look beyond that. The latest addition to the campaign is a knock on Google for tweaks in how ads are displayed within Gmail. According to Microsoft, Google is "spamming your inbox with ads that look like real emails." There's no question that certain targeted ads could be mistaken for genuine emails for those who rarely use the internet, but here's the thing: this is all fun and games until Microsoft reaches a point where it needs to do the same for Hotmail.com and Outlook.com.


Just because neither of those have a similar ad layout today does not mean that such a day will not come. Microsoft should certainly watch how and who it picks on. Google could just as easily pick on Microsoft's mobile platform compared to Android. After all: which major mobile platform cannot download Google Maps, a service that's universally loved and in-demand? We'll let you take a guess.