The company is encouraging users to dump Gmail for Outlook.com

Feb 23, 2013 09:58 GMT  ·  By

You’ve probably heard that Microsoft is attacking Google on a regular basis, trying to disclose some of the unfair practices used by the search giant, but here’s something really fishy about these attempts.

In addition to plenty of videos and statements, Microsoft has also started an anti-Gmail petition to call for users to sign and request Google to stop violating their privacy.

We first wrote about this petition on February 7, telling you that Microsoft wanted to get a total of 25,000 signatures from users all over the world.

Twelve days later, on February 19, we provided an update on the story to tell you that the petition had barely attracted nearly 8,800 signatures, even though Microsoft was aiming for the 25,000 threshold.

Fast forward four days later and Microsoft suddenly has more than 85,000 signatures, with a new goal of 100,000 signatures. The target of the petition is no longer just “Google,” but “Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google.”

This means that Microsoft got nearly 76,000 backers in just four days, even though approximately 8,000 people agreed to sign the petition twelve days after its public release. Seems legit.