<p>FORTUNE -- Microsoft's anti-Google "Scroogled" campaign is based largely on the contention that rival Google "goes through" private email in order to target ads at users based on keywords. And that's technically true. It's also technically true that Microsoft, too, "goes through" private email, though its intent is different: Microsoft's Outlook.com email service runs scans to block spam.</p><p>Still, the scanning itself isn't really much different. For Stefan Weitz, Microsoft's (MSFT) senior director of online services, this is all a matter of "semantics." The intent of Google's (GOOG) "going through" email is what makes that "going through" a bad thing, compared to Microsoft's "going through," which is entirely benign, he said in an interview Tuesday.</p><p>It can be argued that Google's intent to target ads is just as benign as Microsoft's intent to prevent spam. Clearly, Microsoft doesn't think so, and it cites surveys showing that most people don't even realize that Google targets ads at them based on what they've written in emails, and that when they learn this is the case, many of them are appalled.</p><p>But the campaign is heavily focused on the scanning part, which makes Google's targeting sound sinister. It also makes it sound a little bit like Google employees, rather than computer algorithms, are doing the scanning.</p><p><a href="http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/05/much-like-google-microsoft-also-scans-your-email/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/webmail-war-gmail-vs-outlookcom-vs-yahoo-mail">Webmail war: Gmail vs. Outlook.com vs. Yahoo Mail</a> (PCWorld.co.nz)</p><p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/exec-tech/how-best-to-handle-the-wall-of-emails-you-receive-every-day/story-e6frgazf-1226590210138">How best to handle the wall of emails you receive every day</a> (The Australian)</p><p><a href="http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14165828-microsoft-says-bah-humbug-and-cancels-scroogled-ad-campaign">Microsoft says "Bah Humbug" and cancels "Scroogled" ad campaign</a> (allvoices)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dMv-F4M7ipyfeWMmzqpcom-I_mYjM&ned=us">35 additional articles.</a></p>