Microsoft attack Google – bad place to shop

Microsoft have started an attack on Google, devising a marketing campaign which is focused on a recent change in the way Google operates the part of their search engine devoted to shopping results. These revisions require merchants to pay Google to get their products listed in the shopping section.

Microsoft have new ads which contend the new approach which “betrays Google's longstanding commitment to provide the most trustworthy results on the Web, even if it means foregoing revenue. To punctuate its point, Microsoft is warning consumers that they risk getting “scroogled” if they rely on Google's shopping search service.” According to Micheal Liedtke at the Mercury News.

Microsoft plan on running the messaging in TV commercials in America via CNN and NBC networks, and in newspaper ads in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Microsoft are also running a billboard campaign.

The relationship between Google and Microsoft is already strained, primarily due to the battle between market leader Google and Microsoft's Bing. Google are also ensuring that a wide audience don't need to rely on Microsoft Office software, by releasing their own online suite which has proven popular. The Android operating system has also hit Microsoft hard in the last couple of years.

The Associated Press add “Google doesn't require websites to pay to be listed in its main database, the index that provides results for requests entered into its all-purpose search box. A query made there for a particular product, such as a computer, will still include results from merchants who haven't paid for the privilege of being included.

But that's not the case for someone who clicks on a tab to enter Google's shopping-only section, which is designed to compare prices and offer other insights such as identifying sites that offer free shipping. Searches there are confined to paying merchants. That means results from sites, including Web retailing giant Amazon.com, aren't displayed unless they pay. Amazon has only occasionally paid to have some of its wares listed in Google's shopping section. Zappos, a site owned by Amazon, has been more willing to pay the price to be listed in Google's shopping results.”

CEO Larry Page has defended the Google fee approach during a conference call with analysts saying “I think you just get a well-organized set of product information, ways to buy it, and really have a great experience there”.

Google said they are pleased with the response to the new shopping system, which offers listings from over 100,000 sellers.

You can read more on this, over here.

Kitguru says: A battle unlikely to fade anytime soon.

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