- Microsoft has a new (and somewhat duplicity) promotion in progress
- This occurs when looking for an ia rival service on bing
- A co -pilot banner appears at the top of the results, and it is easy for users to use it by mistake instead of the AI that they really wanted
Microsoft is again up to a few sneaky tips in terms of promoting its own services, and this time, it is Copilot AI, who is now pushed on those who use Bing research.
As the latest Windows reports reports, if you go to Bing.com and search for a major IA service that competes with Microsoft’s own co -pilot – which means that Chatgpt, Google’s Gemini or Claude AI – You will get a co -pilot banner that appears.
This appears at the top of the research, announcing that “your co -pilot is here” and offering an prompt to ask for “all that” of Microsoft. You can then type a request in the box presented if you wish, and this will open the Copilot website with the results.
This behavior is implemented via the Bing Search site itself, so it will happen if you go to Bing.com in any web browser (not just Edge).
Analysis: Spotlight and Shade
Although the copilot banner that Bing Search serves is labeled “promoted by Microsoft”, the company has chosen a very small font for this particular detail, so it is quite easy to miss.
In fact, the way in which the result of research is presented in this scenario is quite misleading in some aspects. So, let’s say that you are looking for chatgpt in Bing, the Chatgpt website is the highest result (as you can imagine, of course), but the way the Copilot banner is perched just above, it could encourage you to think that the query box is actually for chatgpt. Some people may not realize and eventually redirect to the Copilot website with their question, which is clearly the idea. If the Copilot banner was presented on the side, for example – away – it would be much less likely to happen.
In addition, if you leave the tab with the Bingpt Bingpt search (or other AI services mentioned), then return, the Copilot banner is in fact highlighted in shiny white, with the rest of the gray results. The banner is actually highlighted – see the screenshot above to see what I mean – so that people are even more likely to be attracted, especially if they are not warned and do not really look at the page.
Overall, it looks like a little unwanted duplicity, but in truth, it’s nothing new for Microsoft – or other technology giants, moreover. Microsoft particularly wishes to encourage people to use your Edge browser in one way or another, including if you try to download Chrome. Indeed, the search for chrome in bing.com results in a very similar banner “ promoted by Microsoft ” at the top of the results (and we have seen movements even darker than that in the past).
And yes, Google also pulls this kind of chicanery, and if you go to Google.com, you will be invited to use its AI, Gemini, with a pop-up. That said, if you are looking for `Copilot ” on Google, you will not have gemini inserted in the search results in the same way as Microsoft does with Copilot in Bing.
In any case, although it is very unlikely that this type of promotional nonsense never disappears, it is disappointing to see a slightly more blatant example of Microsoft here – in particular in the highlighting of the co -pilot query box, if you move away from the active tab, then change behind.
