Microsoft is going at it with Google harder than ever by making Bing look like Google for some search queries. When you search “Google” on Bing without being signed in to a Microsoft account, you’ll see a page that looks very much like Google’s homepage. This spoofed interface contains a search bar, a doodle like image, and a very subtle text line underneath the search bar with the feel of Google’s trademarked design.
Microsoft takes that one step further by automatically scrolling a page slightly out of Bing’s own search bar at the top. The mimicked UI shows only the OS initial startup screen in which this mimicked UI appears. The search results of “Google” continue to show up below this mimicked UI but the presentation overall is an evident copy cat attempt to attract users who might be searching ‘Google’ on new PCs using the Microsoft Edge browser.
This follows Microsoft’s broader attempt to promote use of Bing and Edge. Google’s Chrome boss Parisa Tabriz criticized the tactic in a social media post, calling it a ‘new low’ by Microsoft, which continues its campaign to restrict user choice. Microsoft has long since adopted an aggressive stance in promoting Bing and Edge, inserting popups into Windows, altering Chrome download pages, and even adding polls to Chrome related sites. Their goal is to dissuade users from switching to Google and Chrome.
Meanwhile, Google has less coercive ways of nudging people to download Chrome on its websites, compared to Microsoft’s methods of notifications and interface changes at system level. Microsoft’s attempt to ape Google shows that it wants to compete against Google’s lock on search engine and browser markets. But such deceptive tactics run the risk of turning off users and serving to enflame tech community criticism. It’s unclear though whether this strategy will pay off or backfire.
