In another marketing gaff, this is a real Microsoft ad that they recently pulled because people found it, well, um… tasteless. It was meant to be promoting their newly released browser IE8 which they’ve tried to sell people on in other shonky advertising. It seems Microsoft is realizing it is really behind in the browser race / war and is desperate enough to try any trick to get you to use their browser. I think I would do the same thing as the woman in the ad if I too had to use Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer helps you explore your stomach contents.

While the other browsers are screaming ahead in developments and speed, there is still no sign of Internet Explorer 8. There are dribs and drabs of information that surface from time to time. And the latest one is not encouraging at all.

It seems Mircrosoft think it a good idea to turn their browser into spyware, after of all these years of monthly security patches to protect users against those with malicious intent gathering your personal information, they will go ahead and do it themselves. “Trust us”.

The component in the next version of Microsoft’s browser software “discover websites you might like based on sites you’ve visited”. Collecting a user’s browser history and using it to create profiles that steer users towards one website or another may seem like a useful pointer to Microsoft’s developers, but the feature is giving some privacy-conscious surfers the fear.

The addresses of websites visited are sent to Microsoft, together with data such as IP address, browser type, regional and language settings. Microsoft cautions (in a draft for its IE8 privacy policy here) that “information associated with the web address, such as search terms or data you entered in forms might be included”.

It sounds like a security disaster in the making.

More on the story from the Register.