The commercials are hard hitting, beating up Google for everything from invasive ads in Gmail to sharing data with app developers to placing paid results on its search page. Google, the ads claim, is "Scroogling" its users, or exploiting their private data to maximize advertising profits.
And just like ruthless political attack ads, you can go nearly the full length of these without a clue as to whom is behind them. Only at the end does Microsoft identify itself. "For honest search results, try Bing," the narrator might say, sometimes waiting until the final two seconds to do so.
The Scroogled ads, negative to the core, are a rarity for consumer tech. Even the mean-spirited "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" variety featured a product comparison at least. But while the tactics may be ugly, the ads are working, according to two ad effectiveness firms, and research commissioned by Microsoft, which finds the ads are tarnishing Google's image in the eyes of viewers and putting Microsoft products -- including underdogs such as Bing -- into the consideration set.
Effective strategy
"For Microsoft it's a win," said Jonathan Symonds, exec VP-marketing at Ace Metrix, an ad-effectiveness research firm. In Ace's evaluation, more than 53% of campaign viewers mention Google in their responses to the ads said they would look at Bing in a new light or at least seek more information. With Bing trailing Google search more than 50 percentage points at the start of the campaign, Mr. Symonds said just getting people to consider Bing over Google was a victory for Microsoft. "Microsoft will happily accept these outcomes."
Gary Getto, president of another ad-effectiveness measurement company, Advertising Benchmark Index, expressed a similar sentiment. "They have certainly raised the level of awareness of Google's activities based on the call-to-action metrics," said Mr. Getto. "People are going to talk to each other and visit the website to discuss the issue."
Once viewers do hit Scroogled.com, data collected for Microsoft by GfK Roper Poll show a 45% favorability gap in favor of Google contracting to just 5%. And Microsoft's internal data, collected up until this summer, show the likelihood of someone recommending Google to a friend drop by 10%, as opposed to a 7% increase for Bing, after watching the ad.
"The "Scroogled' campaign is having a huge impact as consumers learn the stark difference between what Google says and what Google does," wrote a Microsoft spokesman in an email. Scroogled is now on its sixth wave of ads, which have been supported collectively with $10 million dollars in spending, according to a person familiar with the campaign. They also persist despite the recent revelations about the NSA's widespread surveillance activities, something Microsoft has been tied to.
http://adage.com/art...working/244691/
If this is actually working wouldn't people be using Bing? ;o
