All this puts Microsoft in the awkward position of having its brand image defined by a rival-despite its own vast advertising budget, which towers above Apple's.

The company put a lot of effort into redoing its movie-making and photo-editing programs to better match up against Apple's and plans to make those programs a centerpiece of its holiday ad push.

There, of course, Microsoft had a relatively easy target (Apple) - but it would really be hard to construct an AD that attacks Google's search prowess.