[LINK] Bing nudges users to use its search results by disguising them as Google's.

[Stephen Loosley]

Someone caught Bing tricking people into thinking it was Google, and it's a little concerning


By Simon Batt Jan 6, 2025  https://www.xda-developers.com/bing-tricking-people-google/


Summary

Microsoft is mimicking Google by making Bing search results look like Google's homepage.

Bing nudges users to use its search results by disguising them as Google's.

Bing hides its search bar and categories to make visitors think they are on Google's webpage.


If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Microsoft has been passing Google some seriously big compliments lately. A few months ago, Microsoft was copying Google's homework by adopting a lot of Chrome's features into Edge in hopes of getting people to change browsers. 

Now, if you use Bing to search for Google, it'll do its best Google impression and hope you won't notice.


Microsoft Bing really doesn't want you to use Google

As spotted by Windows Latest, it seems that Microsoft is getting annoyed that people are using Bing to search for Google. This likely happens when someone boots up Edge but doesn't want to use Bing to search the web, so they punch in "Google" into the Edge new tab screen to get to where they want to go.

Windows Latest noted that if you use Bing to search for Google, you'll be taken to a page that looks suspiciously like Google. Don't be fooled; this is just a Bing results page with a huge search box stuck on the top. Using the search box will take you to the Bing search results for your query.

The Google lookalike on Bing

I gave it a try myself, and sure enough, Microsoft is definitely doing something shady here. If you want to see for yourself, head over to Bing and search for "Google." You'll notice that Bing will pull up a search result with a Google look-alike at the top. It'll also nudge the page down just enough to hide the Bing search bar and categories so you think you're on Google's page. 

You can get rid of the fake Google by clicking the X at the top-right of the search graphic, after which it will never appear again; however, you can force it to reappear by visiting Bing in an Incognito window.

Either way, I hope trickery doesn't become Microsoft's main tactic to get people using Bing. After all, it is sitting on some excellent AI search tools .



We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.

Reply / Post

Pavan
The problem with Bing is that the results are not in line with the expectations. While google provides the expected search results, Bing results are just not what I want. So even if I happen to search in Bing initially, I curse myself looking at the results and quickly switch to google for better results..

2025-01-06 11:22:52

2

Denis
They do it for the Youtube video as well. You search for something on Bing, it's a Youtube video and instead of being taken to Youtube video page, you end up with a YouTube video running in something that looks like a cheap YouTube page knockoff, just with a Microsoft Video instead of a YouTube logo.

2025-01-07 12:32:26

Pubcon
This is over a decade old. They tweak it every couple of years. The only thing new - is someone noticed it.

2025-01-06 16:26:11

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