NEW YORK: Is imitation really the best form of flattery? In an effort to get more people to use Bing, Microsoft appears to be disguising its Bing searches as Google ones for any users seeking to ditch Microsoft’s default for the world’s most used search engine.
Search Bing for "Google" and you’ll now arrive on a page with a large search bar and a colourful graphic very similar to Google’s Doodle illustrations to mark holidays, events and historical birthdays.
To further lead users to think they’ve arrived at Google Search, Microsoft has hidden the usual Bing branding, which you can only find if you scroll up, creating a momentary illusion that you are on Google’s homepage.
This new design, first reported on by tech news website Windows Latest, isn’t Microsoft’s first sly attempt at trying to use its market dominance to benefit Bing or its Edge browser, which comes pre-installed on devices running Windows.
US tech news website The Verge has been documenting various gimmicks Microsoft has used in the past to lure people over to its browsers over the years, even inserting Bing pop-up ads on Google Chrome and pinning the Edge browser to the Windows taskbar.
According to recent data, Google Chrome held about 68% of global browser market share worldwide. Safari comes in second with 17% and Microsoft’s Edge is third with nearly 5%. In search, Google dominates even more at 87.39% according to US figures, while Bing falls well behind at 7.31%.
Google is neither impressed nor flattered by Microsoft’s imitation. Parisa Tabriz, Google Chrome’s security executive and self-described "Browser Boss", criticized Microsoft’s actions on X.
"Spoofing the Google homepage is yet another tactic in (Microsoft’s) long history of tricks to confuse users & limit choice. New year; new low Microsoft." – dpa
