Has Apple decided that among its top potential customers for switching to a Mac are Windows 7 pirates? Based on ads that Apple is buying on Google that might be the case --- search for "download Windows 7" and you'll see an Apple ad urging PC users to switch to the Mac. But search for "buy Windows 7" and you'll see no such ad.

Do a search on "download Windows 7" or "Windows 7 download" and you'll see the Apple ad on the right-hand side of the page, under the "Sponsored Links" section. Some times when I do the search, the ad instead appears on top of the main search results.

The ad reads:

Upgrading to Windows 7?
There's never been a better time
to switch to a Mac. Find out why.

You can see the ad, below.

But do a search for "buy Windows 7" or "get Windows 7" or "purchase Windows 7" or "Windows 7" and no ads from Apple for Macs appear.

Is Apple doing this as a way to target Windows 7 pirates? After all, if someone is looking to find and pay for a copy of Windows 7, they're likely to type in the word "buy" or "purchase" rather than "download". If, on the other hand, they're looking to pirate a copy, they're more likely to want to download it, so will more likely type in the word "download."

Why would Apple target Windows piraters? Frankly, I don't have a clue. And I'm not completely convinced they're targeting pirates, either. So if you have an answer to the mystery, or a theory about it, let me know below.