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Microsoft is as soon as once more injecting pop-ups into Google’s Chrome browser in a bid to get folks to change to Bing. The software program big first introduced malware-like pop-up ads final 12 months with a immediate that appeared excessive of different apps and home windows. After pausing that notification to deal with “unintended conduct,” the pop-ups have returned once more on Home windows 10 and 11.
Home windows customers have reported seeing the brand new pop-up in current days, promoting Bing AI and Microsoft’s Bing search engine inside Google Chrome. When you click on sure to this immediate, then Microsoft will set Bing because the default search engine for Chrome. These newest prompts seem like malware, and as soon as once more have Windows users asking if they’re legit or nefarious. Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that the pop-ups are real and will solely seem as soon as.
“This can be a one-time notification giving folks the selection to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome,” says Caitlin Roulston, director of communications, in a press release to The Verge. Roulston framed the pop-up as providing perks to Home windows customers, since they’ll get extra chat turns in Copilot in the event that they settle for the notification. “We worth offering our clients with selection, so there may be an choice to dismiss the notification.”
If Microsoft actually valued offering Home windows customers with selection, then it will provide up a straightforward strategy to disable these pop-ups for good. There are a selection of ways in which Microsoft makes an attempt to immediate Home windows customers into switching to Bing and Edge, making it troublesome to keep away from them by means of tweaking settings.
I’ve been rising more and more pissed off with Microsoft’s makes an attempt to aggressively push pop-up advertisements on Chrome customers lately. Microsoft has been utilizing pop-ups inside Chrome, on the Home windows taskbar, and elsewhere to advertise its personal companies. Microsoft even as soon as forced people into Edge after a Windows Update, and it often presents a full-screen message to attempt to get Home windows customers to change to Bing and Edge after updates are utilized.
Earlier this 12 months, Microsoft even had to fix an issue the place its Edge browser was routinely importing shopping information and tabs from Chrome with out consent. I personally experienced the bug; after I rebooted my PC for a Home windows replace, Microsoft Edge routinely opened with the Chrome tabs I used to be engaged on earlier than the replace.
I wrote in August that I used to be “counting the times till the subsequent annoying pop-up seems,” and right here it’s a little over six months later. I’m nonetheless hoping Microsoft will ultimately quit with these annoying pop-ups and respect Home windows customers’ selection to choose whichever search engine and browser they want to use.
