Microsoft has launched a website claiming that Google’s shopping site is ripping people off.
The new ad campaign cleverly links Google to Scrooge, combining the names to form “Scroogle.”
Bing’s new site, Scroogled.com, claims that Google is only showing shopping results from paid advertisers. Their point is if Google is only showing you paid results, then you’re not getting all the information, and you may not get the best deal on the product.
Scroogled is a clean site, with things laid out so that you can find everything that Microsoft wants you know. Mostly everything that is bad about using Google.
It even allows you to share some of the better quotes with your friends and family on Twitter and Facebook, with easy share buttons in the top right corner of the page.
The main links, however, come at the bottom of the page. One goes to Microsoft’s search engine Bing.com, the other makes the assumption that, based on the information on Scroogled alone, you’ll make Bing.com your homepage.
Microsoft includes quotes from the founders of Goggle, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, to make their point. But upon further inspection, there’s almost ten year gap between the statements.
To this shopper, the quotes demonstrate the evolution of online shopping, not a company trying to deceive or betray its “founding” principles.
Of course, Bing doesn’t mention on Scroogled that they also show paid results on their shopping search engine. According to CNN, while some of the results are free listings from the past, new vendors wanting to include their products now must pay.
It seems to me that Microsoft may be trying too hard to get people to use Bing and not fully understand the shopping market that they are getting into. Most shoppers I know visit more than one site during their shopping research.
End game: Every engine has its pros and cons. Bing is throwing some hard punches at Google in this Scroggled campaign. It will be interesting to see how Google responds.
A video of the Scroogled TV commercial is below.
What do you think of Bing’s Scroogled ad? Leave your comments below.
httpvh://youtu.be/-WIluNt0mvA
Have A Question? Ask Jessica!
-
Jessica: Hi, I'm Jessica, the Consumer Press AI, can I help you with a consumer question?
