Microsoft Says Goodbye To “Scroogled” Ad Campaign

Microsoft’s “Scroogled” ad campaign, which attacked Google over paid inclusion in shopping and Gmail over privacy, is coming to an end.

KQED reports that Microsoft will stop TV, newspaper and social media ads promoting the Scroogled message:

“That part is about finished,” Stefan Weitz, Microsoft senior director of online services, said on Thursday.

Microsoft launched the Scroogled campaign last November to attack Google’s all-paid-inclusion shopping search results. Our stories below cover more about this:

• Bing Attacks Google Shopping With “Scroogled” Campaign, Forgets It’s Guilty Of Same Problems
• Bing Shopping As A Poster Child For Consumer Confusion About Ads

In January, Microsoft restarted the Scroogled campaign, this time attacking Gmail, alleging privacy issues with it. Again, our past coverage:

• Microsoft Attacks Gmail Over Privacy In Latest “Scroogled” Campaign
• Microsoft’s “Scroogled” Campaign Against Gmail Wins 0.002% Of Users

For a longer review looking at the Scroogled pullback, see our story at our Marketing Land sister-site, Microsoft Dropping “Scroogled” Ads That Attack Google.

Postscript: Stefan Weitz emailed me and said that KQED didn’t fully represent what he said about the campaign. He apparently intended to convey that the campaign was winding down, not because it was ineffective, but on schedule. He argues that Microsoft needs to run less paid media now to educate consumers:

As the issue has jumped into the mainstream and is becoming more present in everyday Americans’ minds, the amount of paid media we need to run to raise awareness is decreasing. That the campaign has jumped from mainstream back into the technosphere (see the RSA conference this week where Google’s GC again avoided the core issue) shows how it’s not just about ads running – it’s about the substance of the problem. We are definitely not dropping the campaign issue when we see things like 114k people from around the world have signed the petition and we’ve seen over 3.5MM people head to the Scroogled site.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.