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Are Microsoft Users the Target Market?

Written on
Dec 11, 2009 
Author
Gavin Dunaway  |
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Are Microsoft Users the Target Market?

microsoft_small.jpgADOTAS – Maybe it’s some kind of subliminal message in the code that screams at a user’s nervous system click! Click! CLICK! Maybe I’ve watched “The Manchurian Candidate” too many times.

The other day I saw some research that suggested Bing is for ad-clickers by Chitika, but the search-targeted ad network just released some new data that suggests Microsoft users in general have itchy fingers on the left mouse button.

According to a sample of nearly 135 million impression across the Chitika network of 80,000 sites, 1.05% of clicks came from consumers browsing with Internet Explorer — that’s 40% higher than Firefox users (0.66%), 50% more than Safari users (0.50%) and 80% higher than Chrome users (0.21%). By operating system, Chitika found that 0.92% of its clickers were using Windows vs. 0.52% using Mac OS and 0.46% tooling with Linux.

Michael Schonfeld at TechCrunch ponders whether Microsoft users are more gullible toward online advertising, but I’m going to put forth another hypothesis — online advertising is better targeted at Microsoft users.

Some of this I believe goes to the branding — Google is getting an increasingly snotty rep — similar to its mobile competitor Apple. It’s smarmy kids that dress like Justin Long who are Googling on their iPhones (Droids?) — a stereotype for sure, but one that is continually propagated by the media. Microsoft has long been a media punching bag — can you be more condescending than calling Microsoft users gullible?

Microsoft, as much as a misnomer as this may be, seems to appeal more to common people, something it’s shot for increasingly in its ad campaigns — and those would be who advertisers are shooting for.

Even trying to partner with the animated TV series “Family Guy,” which definitely falls toward the low end of middle brow, for the Windows 7 launch was an attempt to appeal to the masses. A friend sent me an unironic video for how to host a Windows 7 installation party — I laughed, but at the same time realized how stuck up I appeared. (I should note I’m a Mac user and a Googler, and I’d like to believe my preference is about function rather than intellectual snobbery.)

This is why I wouldn’t be surprised if Bing keeps gaining on Google. It’s not about performance and functionality — it’s about image. That kind of branding has worked wonders (and travesties) in politics. Granted, such a shift will be gradual because Microsoft hasn’t shaken the “evil corporate empire” persona it ingrained in many of our minds during the 90s (curse you, Windows 95!) and early 00s.

But Bill Gates’ irking presence (I remember the theater audience cheering when he was shot in the head during “South Park: The Movie”) is seldom seen in relation to the company these days. Consider in those Mac/PC commercials who we really enjoy watching — the PC (or really the stand-in for Microsoft), John Hodgeman, whose antics are endearing.

And as Google keeps sprawling, especially with its commanding entry into the mobile space, it’s growing a similar imperial vibe that makes people like me titter (not Twitter — only the latest news about Kim Kardashian makes me do that).

Of course, I’ll be the first to admit that Chitika’s numbers might just be a fluke. But my guess is that Bing, IE and Windows users are clicking more on ads because that’s who they’re targeted at.





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