Although Google has a seedy reputation for collecting exhaustive amounts of its users’ data to deliver targeted advertisements, it looks like Microsoft is planning to do some “Scroogling” of its own. InfoWorld reports that changes Microsoft is implementing with the upcoming Windows 8.1 update are geared toward making it easier to Microsoft to collect users’ local search data and deliver ads through the Windows Search desktop feature.
As InfoWorld puts it, Windows 8.1 “not only searches your computer for the string you specify… it also, all by itself, gathers up the terms and runs them through a Bing search” so that terms you search for on your hard drive result in advertisements for similar products on Amazon, eBay and other websites. InfoWorld also notes that Microsoft is encouraging users to set up a Microsoft account as a prerequisite for using Windows 8.1, similar to how Android devices encourage users to create Google accounts capable of tracking them across multiple services.
