On Monday, we passed along a statement from Microsoft saying that the Scroogled campaign had come to an end. Microsoft had coined the name, a combination of the name "Scrooge" and "Google," and used the term to define those situations when Google is not offering shopping search users an unbiased search result. Instead, the search results are actually ads that Google is paid for, and no notification of this practice is listed.
An email joking about financial difficulties results in an ad for Bankruptcy filing help
Despite the aforementioned statement from Microsoft, it turns out that the company has decided not to pull the plug on the Scroogled campaign after all. In a follow-up statement on Monday, Microsoft said, "Scroogled will go on as long as Google keeps Scroogling people." Just last month, Microsoft expanded the definition of Scroogled to include the invasion of privacy that occurs when Google goes through your email word by word to sell related ads. In other words, your private written emails are dissected word for word with Google's computers matching up ads with certain words and phrases. Your email could be about private financial matters, or about health issues. It doesn't matter. Google sells ads based on your private correspondence.
Microsoft's video shows a real-life example about an email relating to a cat that had to be put to sleep due to old age. Google used the words in the email to determine it was about a pet and pushed out an ad for free pet-health exams that was attached to the correspondence. Now that Microsoft has decided not to put an end to this campaign, we can expect them to expand the definition of Scroogled some more.
"Scroogled will go on as long as Google keeps Scroogling people. We know Google doesn’t like it when the facts come out. Chapter two of the consumer education campaign has shown people care about their privacy. More than 3.5 million people visited scroogled.com, and nearly 115,000 people signed a petition asking Google to stop going through their Gmail. Stay tuned for the next chapter."-Microsoft
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: