Microsoft has resorted to an aggressive new controversial trick to get people to use its search engine Bing, although they will think they are using Google, writes The Verge.
Image Source: Rubaitul Azad/unsplash.com
If you search for “Google” in Bing without signing in to your Microsoft account, you’ll be taken to a page that looks very similar to Google’s. It has a search bar, a Google Doodle-like image, and even some text below the search bar, just like Google. Microsoft even automatically scrolls down the page a little to hide its own Bing search bar that appears at the top of the results.
If you search through a search bar that mimics Google, you will be redirected to the regular Bing search results page. Also, this trick does not work if the user is signed in to a Microsoft account. However, other search queries simply return regular Bing search results without a special “Google-like” interface.
Image source: Tom Warren/The Verge
It is quite clear that Microsoft’s target is users who just bought a new PC and using the standard Microsoft Edge browser want to find Google Chrome, as is often the case.
Microsoft has previously used various controversial tactics to encourage users to switch to Bing and Edge instead of Google and Chrome. Specifically, over the past few years, Microsoft has been “spoofing” Chrome download sites, adding pop-up ads to Google Chrome for Windows, embedding surveys on Chrome download pages, and even using malware-like pop-ups to trick users into abandoning Google.
It should be noted that Google is also trying to attract users into its ecosystem, for example using notifications on its websites to encourage users to download Chrome instead of Microsoft Edge, but this does not seem to be as aggressive as with Microsoft.