There are several excellent reasons to use Microsoft’s Windows 11, Bing, and Copilot AI, but the company still finds it necessary to spam users with unnecessary popups. After ditching the effort last year, Microsoft is again pestering Chrome users on Windows to switch their search engine setting to Bing.
A few days ago, we noticedMicrosoft adding shady-looking QR codesto the Windows 11 lock screen, sending users to the download page for its Copilot AI assistant. After lots of backlash, the company paused that rollout. We saw something similar last summer with the company employingaggressive Bing popupsin the taskbar, begging people to ditch Google search on Chrome and switch to Bing.
Now, it looks like those same frustrating popups are back. Spotted again and confirmed byWindows Latest, Microsoft flipped a server-side switch and will nudge those on Windows 10 and 11 using Google Chrome to switch to Bing and enjoy Copilot AI.
Apparently, this is a “one-time notification” that encourages users to switch to Bing for search. The malware-like popup inside Chrome teases access to GPT-4 and the ability to enjoy “hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing AI.” If a user taps “Yes” on the popup, it’ll change Chrome’s search settings to Bing and all of its goodness. Then, if you go to switch back, you’ll again be notified and warned that you’ll lose access to Bing AI with GPT-4 and DALL-E 3.
The first time we saw this popup, it wasn’t quite as targeted, but now Microsoft is using the allure of AI to convince users to switch. It’s pretty funny, considering the product does a great job of selling itself thanks to the never-ending flow of new features and Copilot goodies. However, for whatever reason, Microsoft continues to resort to comical and almost shady practices like this.
So, if you’re browsing the web on Chrome, don’t be alarmed if you see an alert from Microsoft to give Bing another shot. To be fair, this is a never-ending battle that both Google and Microsoft partake in. Either way, it’s starting to get rather frustrating.
