Microsoft’s testing an idea to promote Bing in Windows 11 – and it’s so awful, it makes me want to install Linux

This should never have made it off the drawing board

News By Darren Allan published 15 March 2024

Windows 11 (and Windows 10) users who are browsing with Chrome might be confronted by a new pop-up Microsoft is testing that attempts to persuade them to switch to Bing.

Windows Latest picked up on the pop-up which appears in a box bottom-right of the browser window, urging users to try Bing as their default search engine, reminding them that it’s easy to switch back if they don’t like Bing (more on that later). The promotional blurb is pushing the capabilities of Bing AI (which we thought had been officially renamed to Copilot a while back, but never mind) and “free access to ChatGPT-4.”

This is even more intrusive than it first seems, because not only is Microsoft wanting to switch your default search to Bing, but the pop-up is also asking to install the Bing Search for Chrome plugin – as this ‘improves the chat experience’ with Bing AI, you’re told.

Clicking yes to the prompt means your default search is switched to Bing and this Bing plug-in is installed – or you can elect to say no – but there’s another level to the hassle here.

In actual fact, it’s the plug-in that changes your search to Bing here, and when Chrome realizes what has happened, Google’s browser warns you that an extension has changed the default search to Bing.com.

Now, when Chrome informs you of what’s happened, you can click a button to ‘Change it back’ (your default search) to whatever it was before. But, here’s the additional kicker: Microsoft has implemented another pop-up to appear under Chrome’s message urging you not to change it back, and that you should select ‘Keep it’ (the plug-in) to not lose access to Bing AI. Good grief, as Charlie Brown might say…

Windows Latest contacted Microsoft when the site experienced all this, and the company confirmed the pop-up, but explained that it’s currently a test notification.

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