As users have pointed out this week, while using Google’s desktop browser on Windows 10 or 11, a dialog box suddenly and irritatingly appears to the side of the screen urging folks to make Microsoft’s Bing the default search engine in Chrome.
Not only that, netizens are told they can use Chrome to interact with Bing’s OpenAI GPT-4-powered chat bot, allowing them to ask questions and get answers using natural language.
Microsoft confirmed this is the real deal in a statement to Windows Latest and others, saying: “This is a one-time notification giving people the choice to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome.”
That last part is amusing because what with a renewed focus by watchdogs on fair competition in the technology world – eg, Apple being forced in Europe to display a browser choice screen, boosting downloads of Safari rivals Firefox, Brave, and Vivaldi – and AI hype barely moving the needle for Bing in a Google-dominated market, we get to see Microsoft’s contribution to the debate.
Around this time last year, the Windows titan was begging netizens not to ditch its Edge browser on Google’s own Chrome download page.
Redmond also pushed Bing in Windows 11 via pop-ups, and recently had Edge automatically and unexpectedly import Chrome tabs for at least some people.
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