Microsoft has done it again. This time, the company displayed a popup advertising its Bing search service to Chrome users on Windows devices.
The popup appeared for users who launched Chrome on the Windows device. It read “Chat with GPT-4 for free on Chrome! Get hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing AI”.
To do that, users just had to click on the yes button. It would make Bing the default search engine in Google Chrome and install the Bing Service for improving the chat experience.
A click on the yes button makes Bing the default search engine in Google Chrome on the device. It will also install the Bing Chrome extension.
Google notifies users about the attempt to change settings and displays an option to undo the change.
In a statement to various news outlets, Microsoft said: “this is a one-time notification giving people the choice to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome”. Microsoft furthermore stated” we value providing our customers with choice, so there is an option to dismiss the notification”.
While Microsoft spins it to look like it is doing its customers a favor, the response has been mostly negative on the Internet. Reactions range from abusing its control of the Windows operating system to malware-like behavior.
Microsoft clearly uses these popups and others to push its services. Since it has done so several times in the recent past, it seems to work out well for the company, even taking the backlash into account that happens each time.
This is not the first time that Microsoft is using Windows to advertise its service. Back in 2017, Microsoft advertised one of its Chrome extensions as a popup over Chrome’s taskbar icon.
The last popup ad that Microsoft showed on Windows desktops targeted Chrome users as well.
Back in August 2023, Microsoft showed a very similar looking popup ad to users of Chrome. This one also asked users to switch the default search engine to Microsoft Bing in Chrome, promising access to Microsoft Rewards and AI. The Bing extension was also listed and would be installed when users activated the yes button.
There was also the recent issue that Edge imported data from Chrome automatically. Microsoft said that this was caused by a bug. The browser offers an option to import Chrome browser data on launch, but this needs to be enabled by the user manually first.
This is not about choice
Displaying popup ads to users to switch to Bing or another product is patronizing. Users have their own setup and services that they use. Yes, this is likely Google Search in Google Chrome.
The popups give users minimal choice. Say yes and Bing Search is made the default in Chrome and you get the Bing extension on top of that. Decline, and there is a good chance that Microsoft will display another popup in the future.
It is almost as if Microsoft is trying to wear users down until they give in and make Bing the default just to get rid of the popups. It is a clear abuse of power on Microsoft’s part, especially because there is no “never again” option.
Windows offers no clear controls to turn of advertising and advertising popups. You can check out my guide on turning of advertising popups in Windows 11 here to take care of major offenders.
Closing Words
Microsoft is not the only company that is using its dominance to push its own products. Google has used the power of its websites to push its Chrome web browser as well.
This does not make Microsoft’s behavior any better, but underlines that this is widespread behavior.
Now You: what is your take on this?
Summary
Article Name
Microsoft shows another Bing popup advertisement to Windows users
Description
Last week, Microsoft showed popup ads to Windows users advertising its Bing Search engine to users of the Google Chrome web browser.
Author
Martin Brinkmann
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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