????針對微軟公司（Microsoft）發起的反谷歌（Google）活動“Scroogled”，多數人都持反對意見，程度之高令人咂舌。科技網站Verge稱這一活動為“散布恐慌情緒” 。

????這個活動告訴互聯網用戶，谷歌通過“解讀”他們電子郵件中的數據，對他們進行“Scroogled”，以便更精準地投放廣告。實際上，谷歌公司并沒有專人去讀用戶的 電子郵件（至少這并不是明文規定的做法）——讀解是由軟件完成的。廣告會根據用戶郵件里的關鍵詞來向進行定向投放。有幾項調查發現，多數人對此并不知情，而一旦他們了 解到這一點，就會頗感困擾。不管這種擔憂是否有依據，它卻正是微軟之流要別有用心地（畢竟它是通過廣告的方式來做的）大肆利用的一種心理。

????但作為該活動的一個環節，微軟還利用了由大型生活類社區Care2運營的旨在推動社會事業的倡議網站。為此，微軟在Facebook和Twitter上大發廣告，倡議人們在一份 所謂的“告訴谷歌別再通過郵件賣廣告”的倡議書上簽字。

????結果，Care2現在開始考慮修改服務條款，以避免其他公司仿效微軟，為了商業目的利用這個網站。

????微軟這份倡議書的一部分是這樣寫的：“谷歌通過侵犯您的隱私來牟利。他們會逐字逐句解讀您的私人Gmail郵箱，以便向您定向投放廣告。每封郵件的每個字都不放 過。哪怕是最私密的郵件也不例外。您還不覺得隱私受到了侵犯嗎？”隨后就開始兜售微軟自己的電郵服務：“在Outlook，尊重您的隱私是我們的頭等大事。但即使您不用Gmail ，只要您的收件人用，谷歌還是會查閱這些郵件來兜售廣告。根本就別想躲得過去——不管您到底用不用Gmail。”

????從技術上來說，這些描述屬實，但“他們”及“細讀”這類字眼會讓人想象出一幅谷歌員工查閱人們電郵的情景。哪怕Gmail用戶明知不是這么回事，聽起來還是夠可 怕的。

????微軟并未隱瞞自己是幕后主使的事實，但它也并沒有刻意宣揚自己的身份。關于請愿的廣告根本就沒有提到微軟或是Outlook。

????Care2網站負責社論及活動倡議的副總裁喬?貝克稱：“這件事真讓我們頭疼。它絕對是快突破我們的底線了。”最后，這家網站決定，盡管這次請愿明顯是廣告活動的 一部分，“但至少（微軟）曾經有機會讓這次請愿成為真正的‘活動倡議’，”貝克表示。

????Care2自稱為一家“可信的社會活動網絡”，致力于通過推廣“積極向上的社會事業”，如“綠色生活方式，保健，人權及其他活動”來“讓世界變得更美好”。而微 軟這次別有用心、完全稱得上是自私自利的廣告活動似乎最適合歸入“其他活動”這個范疇。Care2的服務條款規定，“除在專門設定的特定區域（如購物區），”用戶不允許“上 傳，發布，電郵，傳播或用其他方式讓人獲取任何未經許可或未經授權的廣告、推廣材料。‘垃圾郵件’、‘連環信’、‘傳銷材料’或任何形式的詢價信息。”

????貝克稱：“以前我們確實從來沒見過這樣的廣告形式。”就算有些公司有時候會在這個網站上發布明顯是為了推廣自己的倡議書，但它們往往不會像微軟這么露骨地唯 利是圖，而且到目前為止，也確實有助于推動一些社會事業，比如曾有一家專事保健推廣的公司發布過一則關于防治中風的倡議書。貝克表示，Scroogled出現之后，“我們就開始 考慮是不是要修改服務條款了”。

????去年7月，微軟聘用了民主黨的政治運作高手馬克?佩恩來負責營銷戰略。很多人認為，他正是這次Scroogled活動的幕后推手。

????微軟并未就評論此次事件的要求作出回應。最新情況是：一位微軟的發言人稱，公司上周四就發送了一封回應郵件，但不知何故，這封郵件始終沒人收到過。上周五晚 些時候，該發言人發送了一份由在線服務高級總監斯蒂芬?維爾茨所作的聲明：“本次倡議的主題就是電子郵件的隱私保護問題，該倡議發出的幾天內就有6,000人表示認可。訪問 我們網站的人數已超過50萬，上萬人已試用了Outlook的服務。可見，這是一個大眾十分關注的、嚴肅的公共政治問題。”微軟的目標是，為本次倡議征集到25,000個簽名。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????The main reaction to Microsoft's "Scroogled" ad campaign against Google has been surprise at the level of negativity."Fearmongering," The Verge calls it.

????The campaign tells Internet users that they're being "scroogled" by Google's practice of "reading" data contained in emails to target ads at them. Of course, nobody at Google actually reads anybody's email (at least, not as a matter of policy) -- it's all done with software. Ads are directed at users based on keywords found in their email. Several surveys have found that most people don't know that, and when they hear it, they find it disturbing. Whether that fear is well-founded or not, it's what Microsoft, somewhat disingenuously (it is advertising after all), is exploiting.

????But as part of the campaign, Microsoft (MSFT) is also exploiting the cause-oriented petition site run by Care2. Microsoft has plastered both Facebook (FB) and Twitter with ads directing people to sign a petition there titled "Tell Google to stop going through your email to sell ads."

????As a result, Care2 is now considering changing the terms of its service to prevent companies from using the site for commercial purposes.

????The petition reads in part: "Google earns money by violating your privacy. They go through every word of your personal Gmail so they can target you with ads. Every word of every email. Even the most private ones. Do you feel violated yet?" And it goes on to tout Microsoft's own email service: "At Outlook, we prioritize your privacy. But even if you don't use Gmail, Google will still go through emails you send to someone who does in order to sell ads. There is absolutely no way to opt out -- whether you're a Gmail user or not."

????All technically true, although words and phrases like "they" and "go through" conjure images of Google (GOOG) employees reading people's email. Even if Gmail users know that's not the case, it still sounds scary.

????Microsoft isn't hiding the fact that it's behind the petition, but it's also not playing up its identity. The ads pointing to the petition don't mention Microsoft or Outlook at all.

????"We really scratched our heads over this one," said Joe Baker, Care2's vice president of editorial and advocacy. "It was pretty close to the line." In the end, the site decided that even though the petition is clearly part of an ad campaign, there was "at least a case [Microsoft] could make" that the petition was "advocacy," Baker said.

????Care2 calls itself a "trusted social action network" that is dedicated to helping "make the world a better place" by promoting "good causes" such as "green living, health, human rights, and more." Microsoft's rather nasty and entirely self-serving ad campaign seems to fit best in the "and more" category. According to Care2's terms of service, users are not allowed to "upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, 'junk mail,' 'spam,' 'chain letters,' 'pyramid schemes,' or any other form of solicitation, except in those areas (such as shopping rooms) that are designated for such purposes."

????"We've really never seen anything like this before," Baker said. While companies sometimes launch petitions on the site that clearly help them promote themselves, those petitions usually are less obviously mercenary than Microsoft's and have until now always actually promoted some social cause, as when a health-oriented firm posted a petition having to do with stroke prevention. In the wake of the Scroogled petition, "we're thinking about whether we should change our terms," Baker said.

????Microsoft in July hired Mark Penn, a top Democratic political operative, to help with marketing strategy. He is widely believed to be behind the Scroogled campaign.

????Microsoft has not responded to a request for comment. Update: A Microsoft spokesman says the company emailed a response to a request for comment on Thursday, but for some unknown reason, that email was never received. Late Friday, the spokesman forwarded this statement from Stefan Weitz, senior director of online services: "Privacy of email services is a fair subject for a petition, and 6,000 people have said so in just a few days. Over 500,000 people have visited our website and tens of thousands have tried Outlook.com. It is a serious public policy issue a lot of people care about." The company's goal is to reach 25,000 signatures.