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It comes as no surprise that ever since the success of ChatGPT and its subsequent integration into the Edge browser as the Bing AI chatbot, Microsoft has gone from being the underdog in the search engine market to now seeing themselves fighting for market share with Google. However, the company has always been aggressive in discouraging people from downloading Chrome, and its recent actions have raised some eyebrows as Microsoft shamelessly tampered with its Bing AI chatbot, effectively ignoring searches for Google Chrome and promoting Bing features instead.
As reported by The Verge, Microsoft presented users searching for Chrome or related terms with a Bing AI “widget” that did not provide the expected search results but instead displayed a list of Bing features. This essentially served as a full-scale advertisement for the service, disrupting the user’s search experience and favoring Microsoft’s products over unbiased search results.
Furthermore, to make matters worse, the result that Microsoft displayed to people searching for Chrome-related terms wasn’t even a Bing AI-generated message. It was a calculated move by the company, as the message remained the same for all searches, and the AI is designed to never generate the same message twice.
However, this is not the first time Microsoft has engaged in such practices. Earlier this year, the Edge browser showed an ad for Bing next to the Google Bard URL in the search bar, and although the ad disappeared after a while, it left a Bing icon in place that opened the Bing AI chatbot in split view.
Microsoft’s response
In response to the controversy, Microsoft released a statement acknowledging their experimentation with new features and behaviors to enhance customer experiences. While Microsoft’s efforts in the AI field are commendable, and it is common for companies to conduct tests to improve their products, the situation is quite severe as by disregarding searches for a leading competitor’s product and substituting them with self-promotion, Microsoft not only undermines fair competition but also erodes user trust.
“We often experiment with new features, UX, and behaviors to test, learn, and improve experiences for our customers. These tests are often brief and do not necessarily represent what is ultimately or broadly provided to customers,” said Microsoft.
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