Microsoft appears to have come to its senses over an advertisement that had some observers claiming it was the worst technology commercial ever.

The company has yanked official versions of the online-only ad for its Internet Explorer 8 Web browser off online video sites after users complained it was offensive. If you haven’t seen it, count yourself lucky.

If you really must watch it though, there are still copies floating around on YouTube. We’ve included one below. Warning: don’t watch it on a full stomach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9fhjnJcB0

To recap, the ad shows a woman borrowing her husband’s laptop at the breakfast table, only to discover a Web site (unseen by the viewer) so disturbing in his browser’s history file that she vomits copiously and repeatedly all over the kitchen and her husband. Microsoft’s title for the ad is O.M.G.I.G.P., as in “Oh my god I’m going to puke.”

A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company created the ad as a “tongue-in-cheek look” at a feature in Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer 8 that allows users to prevent the browser from recording any trace of their browsing history. “While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it,” she said.

Many people find run-of-the-mill pornography offensive, but – just guessing here – very few people are so disturbed by it that they vomit when they see it. The Microsoft ad seems to suggest that the husband is involved in a Web fetish that’s far more troubling. Memo to Microsoft: probably best to avoid “creative” that implies you make software for people who are into something so unspeakable it causes your loved ones to lose their breakfast.