Gmail Man: when Microsoft (intentionally?) post an anti-Google video
Here is a video that Microsoft showed (realized?) to its employees. The video clearly denigrates Gmail – a product of Google – and its Ads system. For those who might not know, in Gmail, ads are related to the content of your messages. Google explains that their goal is to provide Gmail users with ads that are useful and relevant to their interests. For example, if you frequently email with your friends about cars (and you actually read those messages), Gmail might start showing more ads related to car accessories or about a local car vendor. Google says that by improving its existing ads it reduced the number it shows to users by a third.
Of course, this has already sparked some privacy concerns (which Microsoft uses in the video). In response, Google states that it is an automated system, and if people are really concerned about privacy, they can just turn it off (through Gmail’s settings panel). Google had already raised waves of privacy issues years ago when it first rolled out its ads in 2004 — and people obviously got over it.
According to Microsoft, this video was originally for an internal event but “somehow” ended up in the web (uploaded in Youtube). Legally, it is not a big deal since comparative ads are totally allowed in the US. But it’s interesting to see how threatened Microsoft (who owns Hotmail) must feel to use such practices. Anyway, I thought it was funny and wanted to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFCSp23xl40
1 comment:
Having used both Hotmail, and Gmail, I find it amusing that Microsoft is saying this. The reason I left Hotmail was that there was too much spam inside my inbox, making it almost impossible to find messages that were actually sent to me. With Gmail, close to 100% of emails are from places I have personally signed up for and the rest ends up in the spam folder. I have no issues with Display being on the sides of my emails that is based on keywords inside my emails. Google have done a great job managing my mail box effectively and I am happy to pay the small price of advertisements on the sides of my mailbox rather than the clutter or Hotmail where Microsoft seemed to have given everyone access to my mailbox.
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