Use Bing for an honest search result, says Microsoft

Nov 28, 2012 15:47 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft continues its fight against Google with a brand new campaign called “Scroogled.” Basically, the Redmond-based technology company is trying to bring Google’s unfair practices in the spotlight, as the search giant has converted its shopping results to paid ads.

Merchants who wish to appear in Google’s Shopping results benefit from a new Google program that allows them to pay per click or per transaction. This way, consumers get Scroogled, Microsoft claims, as they’re not provided with search results, but actual ads ranked by who bids the most for a specific keyword.

“In their under-the-radar announcement, Google admits they've now built ‘a purely commercial model’ that delivers listings ranked by ‘bid price.’ Google Shopping is nothing more than a list of targeted ads that unsuspecting customers assume are search results. They call these ‘Product Listing Ads’ a ‘truly great search’,” Microsoft explained on the new Scroogled website.

“We say that when you limit choices and rank them by payment, consumers get Scroogled. For an honest search result, try Bing,” it added.

This isn’t, however, the first Microsoft attempt to directly attack Google’s unfair practices. The company has recently launched the “Bing It On” campaign to encourage Google Search users make the switch to Bing, claiming that its own search engine could provide more relevant results with less spam.

In addition to launching the new campaign, Microsoft is also calling on Google to stop the pay-to-rank system “and give shoppers what they expect – an honest search,” as the company explained.

“Google now wants to break the rules that made it a trusted brand. They argue that the difference between answers and ads is shrinking. Consumers are potentially getting a raw deal because ‘relevance’ is now influenced by how much Google is getting paid, not just by things that matter to shoppers,” Microsoft added in a long blog post.

Click here to visit the Scroogled website and find out more about Microsoft’s campaign.