Michael Hart Just another WordPress weblog (quite literally) (No—Seriously!)

Google sets new target: Microsoft Office

We all know that Microsoft and Google have recently declared a cold war. It's true; Google's talking about a Chrome OS, Microsoft plans to make the next Office suite web based, then Microsoft's deal with Yahoo, and then... Google launches a campaign, intelligently called "Going Google," to make things only more interesting. The new campaign has 1 Microsoft product in cross hairs: Microsoft Office.

The campaign will feature a series of advertisements focused around why some 3,000 organizations are "Going Google" every day. The most interesting part of this campaign, however, is the billboards that will be displayed in 4 locations. They will be updated every day for a month describing why those 3,000 organizations have decided to switch to Google Apps.

TechCrunch.com author MG Siegler writes about the locations of the ads:

"The billboards will be placed on the 101 in San Francisco, the West Side Hwy in New York, the Ike in Chicago, and Mass Pike in Boston."

Over 1.75 million businesses, schools, and organizations have signed up to use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and the other Google Apps. Now it's increasingly clear that Google is trying to grab hold of some of Microsoft's market share, particularly before their web suite of apps are released as part of Office 2010.

Google's even using some viral tactics, encouraging people who have made the switch to use the hashtag #gonegoogle and explain their experience. The tweets that contain this text are being randomly displayed on the campaign website.

Google's also giving away some gear for people who've "Gone Google" and share the experience with them. You can find the form here, although the amount of supplies appears to be limited.

The campaign looks like a solid effort against Microsoft. It will be interesting seeing what they come up with next to combat Google's recent campaign.

[Source: TechCrunch.com]