Did you know Microsoft Faces Backlash Over Bing’s Imitation of Google Homepage

 

Imitation is never appreciated and there’s no room for it in the tech world, that’s for sure. This might be the reason why software giant Microsoft is drawing fierce criticism and backlash from Google after Bing mimicked the company’s interface.

The head for Google Chrome’s security, Parisa Tabriz did not hold back from slamming the company’s latest strategy featuring a new interface for Bing Search. This matter was published on X where Tabriz shared fury over Bing copying the exact design seen on Google’s homepage. Furthermore, the head of security for Chrome called it a poor tactic to confuse users and restrict their options.  

If that was not enough, Microsoft’s latest plans were said to be a new low for the software giant which Google felt was not the right way to begin the new year. The matter follows Bing’s latest and highly controversial feature that copies the firm’s user interface which is the page that pops up when users try to look for Google.

Parisa published her thoughts on social media, adding how imitation might be considered a sincere type of flattery but spoofing an entire homepage is a tactic that the Android maker has seen plenty of times in the past.

So this means when a user isn’t signed into their Microsoft page and starts looking for Google through Bing Search, they will see a page that mimics Google’s homepage, and that might trick them. You’ll find all the common features seen on Google like the classic search bar, banner featuring animated figures like Google’s Doodles, and even messages popping up stating, ‘Every search brings users closer to free donations. Select from over 2M nonprofits.’ Now this is about Microsoft’s Rewards catalog that enables users to donate points to non-profit institutions.

The design makes it all the more difficult to witness Bing’s branding by scrolling the page a little downwards which disguises Bing’s logo. Now users could only find out that they’re using Bing when scrolling with a page further down.

As per tech experts, this seems to be a clear case of competition and a desperate attempt to retain users and prevent them from moving to other competitive platforms. In this case, the users would be those new to Windows PCs. They innocently look for the Google search engine on Bing by Microsoft Edge and fall into the trap.

The latest design might end up retaining users who were trying to make the switch to Google. Microsoft wants to put an end to that and ensure its users stay put from leaving its search engine Bing. Thankfully, those who are more tech-familiar will notice immediately what’s going on and how they’re being persuaded to make the switch from Google to Bing but others not so much.

The matter is a clear representation of how the search engine wars continue as competition amongst search engine giants heats up. This isn’t the first time that the software giant has done this. They like to keep adding pop-ups with changes to Chrome’s download pages.

Meanwhile, Google isn’t staying put. They keep telling users to download its Chrome browser and keep Google on default settings for search engines.

H/T: Windowslatest.