Windows Live advert on Reuters

Today I spotted an advertisement of Windows Live on Reuters.com while reading a story. The advertisement was a simple image made to look like a search box. Here’s a screenshot:

What bothers me is the fact that Msft is trying to fool people into thinking its a search box and when non-tech-savvy people click on the “input box” to try and search news on Reuters.com it takes them to live.com instead. That might cause a lot of frustration and confusion for some people. Why did Microsoft Live have to resort to visual trickery to get people to visit its website?

Not only that trickery makes people confused, it also dilutes the brand integrity of Microsoft Live. Shame on you Microsoft Live, you are no better than those spam advertisers.

How about an advertisement that says “Search the web with Live.com”?
I am sure more people would be interested to use Live.com if they were invited rather than tricked into it.