Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Announces More SPAM and Bribery Tactics

“Never wrestle with a pig—you get dirty and the pig likes it”

--Sometimes attributed to Abraham Lincoln



Transfer



Summary: Microsoft's marketing strategy turns very ugly and unethical based on reports and press releases that have received no proper attention

AS WE pointed out many times before, Microsoft loves contracting companies to do its unethical and/or illegal activities. We last mentioned this in reference to Plurk, but we have a lot of posts about Microsoft's PR agencies, which are doing nasty things to promote Microsoft.



Well, Microsoft has just hired another sort of "proxy" to do its marketing. The name of the firm is Halesowen and in their site they say:

Microsoft picks Halesowen company to feature in new advertising campaign



[...]

Simon added: “Not only have we re-initiated old relationships, but by using e-mail Marketing, we now have a targeted way to promote specific business services.”


"E-mail Marketing" a euphemism for spam, or even "legalised" spam which is uninvited bulk mail that's promotional. Well done, Microsoft. This company suits your character.

Another marketing contract has just been signed with eCoast. Here are the details:

eCoast to Provide Twitter Marketing for Microsoft



[...]

eCoast, a provider of outsourced demand generation and channel program management solutions in the technology industry, was selected by Microsoft to offer marketing services to its channel partners through the Ready-to-Go Microsoft portal.


Microsoft already uses Waggener Edstrom to 'manage' Twitter. Microsoft also ganged up against the Twitter community (real people) using Federated Media. In addition, see the following:



Microsoft marketing has neither shame nor boundaries. They probably convinced themselves that they are doing a favour to the world. As Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson once put it, “I think he [Bill Gates] has a Napoleonic concept of himself and his company, an arrogance that derives from power and unalloyed success...”

Well, look at this new development; Microsoft is hiring "independent experts" whom it pays and one cannot help thinking whether the PR agencies of Microsoft do the same thing. We know for sure about the lobbying groups and there are many confirmed cases of Microsoft AstroTurfing.

As it turns out, just like last year (when Microsoft first introduced Vista 7), there are big freebies at PDC:

Microsoft surprised attendees to November’s Professional Developers Conference with free touch-screen laptops. It wasn't largesse, for the company had an ulterior motive: to get developers to write applications that utilize touch interfaces.


Who can forget the Vista 7 laptops bribes from the previous year (PDC 2008)?

According to TechCrunch, Microsoft is now bribing some more bloggers in exchange for coverage.

Microsoft Recruits Student Bloggers With Free Software And Trips To Conferences



We’ve confirmed with Microsoft that the tech giant has launched a new program, called Student Insiders, to enlist college students to blog about Microsoft products. In return, the Microsoft “Student Insider” will be able to attend Microsoft conferences, such as Microsoft’s developer conference, PDC, and others and then write about their experiences and the products. The student will get all expenses paid to attend conferences as well as receive free training on Microsoft products. Student Insiders are expected to cover 15 events or topics a year, with at least “500 engagements per event/topic.”

It appears that Microsoft will try to recruit students with “established blogs” to write about a wide variety of Microsoft products. The advertisement we received focused on getting students to review Microsoft’s Expression Studio, a design and development software.


It is rather strange that TechCrunch complains about it because Microsoft paid Michael Arrington to recite Microsoft slogans in his blog, TechCrunch. He got exposed and turned very rude towards those who exposed him. Either way, Microsoft has an extensive history of distorting blog content by bribing bloggers. The above talks about the bribing of students, but Microsoft bribes professors too.

"Ideally, use of the competing technology becomes associated with mental deficiency, as in, "he believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and OS/2." Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition's technology part of the mythology of the computer industry. We want to place selection pressure on those companies and individuals that show a genetic weakness for competitors' technologies, to make the industry increasingly resistant to such unhealthy strains, over time."

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025