Microsoft Cleans Up Dirty Trick Where Bing Masqueraded as Google — Sort Of
Tom Warren, The Verge: Earlier this month you could search for “Google” on Bing and get a page that looked a lot like Google, complete with a special search bar, an image resembling a Google Doodle, and even some small text under the search bar just like Google search. The misleading UI no longer appears on the Google search result of Bing this week, just days after it was originally discovered by posters on Reddit. So much for my praise for Microsoft still having it in them to rat-fuck without shame. They’ve gone soft. Update: OK it’s not so much that Microsoft has stopped the trickery, but more like they’ve just turned the dial down a little bit. The Google-Doodle-style illustration is still there, but on desktop browsers, at least, they’ve stopped the autoscrolling that hides the Bing branding and site navigation at the top of the page. But if you have Mobile Safari set to use Bing as its default search and search for “Google” from the location field, you get the Google-lookalike layout with the Bing branding scrolled out of view. I’d say Microsoft’s dirty trick is still in place. Good for them. ★
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Tom Warren, The Verge:
Earlier this month you could search for “Google” on Bing and get a page that looked a lot like Google, complete with a special search bar, an image resembling a Google Doodle, and even some small text under the search bar just like Google search.
The misleading UI no longer appears on the Google search result of Bing this week, just days after it was originally discovered by posters on Reddit.
So much for my praise for Microsoft still having it in them to rat-fuck without shame. They’ve gone soft.
Update: OK it’s not so much that Microsoft has stopped the trickery, but more like they’ve just turned the dial down a little bit. The Google-Doodle-style illustration is still there, but on desktop browsers, at least, they’ve stopped the autoscrolling that hides the Bing branding and site navigation at the top of the page. But if you have Mobile Safari set to use Bing as its default search and search for “Google” from the location field, you get the Google-lookalike layout with the Bing branding scrolled out of view. I’d say Microsoft’s dirty trick is still in place. Good for them.
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