Irony Alert: Microsoft is Advertising Outlook.com on YouTube

I’m bothered by the ads in Microsoft’s Windows 8 and by the fact that Google is an advertising firm masquerading as a technology company. But there’s something about seeing an ad for Microsoft’s Outlook.com on Google’s YouTube service that just makes me smile. Ironic? Hypocritical? Who cares, it’s funny.

Here’s a shot of the ad, though this static image doesn’t betray the animated, TV ad-like quality of the real thing.

The punch line, of course, is that Microsoft is advertising that Outlook.com lets you watch YouTube videos right in the Outlook.com email experience. So if you do switch to Outlook.com, you’ll have fewer reasons to actually visit YouTube. You know, where you saw the ad that made you switch to Outlook.com.

Funny.