New Windows update tries to fool everyone into using Bing

Microsoft is back at it, trying to push Bing down our throats, and this time they have done something no one has ever thought of before, pop-up ads. The latest Windows update came out a couple of days ago and it has resulted in users getting ads when they open their browser.

Upon opening Google Chrome, you may come across a little box-like shape on the bottom right corner of your screen. A box so poorly designed that it looks like malware on first look. But don't panic you haven't installed something by mistake. You’ve just updated the most widely used operating system on the planet. And that little box is asking you to do something even Microsoft knows you wouldn’t. It asks you to use the Bing search engine while advertising the BingAI.

This is, in fact, not the first time it has been done by the company. Last year Windows 10 and 11 saw pop-up ads appearing on top of other running apps asking you to use Microsoft alternatives. These were eventually pulled back after casually stating that these were causing "unintended behaviour."

One-click of yes on the ad’s prompt will make Bing the default search engine for Chrome. The company has confirmed that these are indeed Microsoft ads and also claimed that they will only appear once. This certainly doesn't seem to be the case as multiple people have reported to have seen the pop-up twice or more.

Caitlin Roulston when talking to Verge said, "This is a one-time notification giving people the choice to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome”, she continued by saying “We value providing our customers with choice, so there is an option to dismiss the notification". She makes it sound like she’s providing us with a huge favour that we can use now to quickly shift to Bing and on top of that we are being given the option to not use their AI. How kind of them.

Windows knows that billions are reliant on it and it continues to use its power to do whatever it wants. They are persistent because even after years and years of countless nos they continue to try and shift us to Bing.

Similarly, you can read about Apple getting accused of smartphone monopoly and Neuralink’s first human patient getting his brain implant enabling them to play Civilization 6