Microsoft Bing Pop-up Is Probably Not Malware, Just a Tasteless Advertisement
If you thought Microsoft’s bad history of pushing its products on Windows users with failed advertising attempts was a thing of the past, then I have news for you. Many users around the world have started noticing new Microsoft Bing pop-ups that look a lot like malware. In fact, someone I knew actually asked me if the pop-up was malware, and after doing some research on the matter, I had to tell them that no, it most likely wasn’t. Microsoft is just bad at trying to convince you to switch to its products.
The new pop-ups started appearing after almost six months of delay, which was only given to us due to the “problem” that the pop-ups were facing. Microsoft said the issue resulted in “unintended behavior” when it started appearing on top of other apps in the past. But now it seems that Windows’ parent company has doubled down on its strange advertising practices.
This latest batch of pop-ups is so bad that users have even taken to Reddit to question whether the advertisements are real or an attempt to sneak in and infect their computers with malware. Users of both Windows 10 and Windows 11 have reported seeing new ads, with some reporting that they appear to be very low quality and extremely pixelated.
Microsoft has a really long and terrible history of mis-advertising its products. From Windows’ past experiences where it was difficult to change the default web browser, to a change in the Edge browser that automatically imported Google Chrome history and information without user consent, something The Verge writer Tom Warren says he experienced firsthand.
While it’s not uncommon for attackers to try to copy ads from big companies like Microsoft, the ads in question only point to official Microsoft links. The move is the longest in a string of clunky ads the company has placed Edge ads on top of other windows in the past. Microsoft even placed the pop-up on desktop computers as a “tip” that users tried to disable months ago.
The worst part is that Microsoft products may not be the best, but they have come a long way since their inception. Granted, Bing isn’t my favorite search engine, but it has some cool features, including free access to GPT-4, and while the search isn’t as reliable as Google, it produces good results that are worth checking out. out. The Edge browser is also better, as our friends at PCMag were quick to point out in their 2017 review. However, none of this is worth resorting to the invasive methods that Microsoft relies on to advertise its products.
Such advertising will not attract new users. Sure, you might get new users in the form of people who accidentally hit the confirm button, but for the most part people are happy with what they’re already using. , and there’s really no reason for them to change what they’re doing.
If Microsoft really wants to increase the number of users turning to Bing for search results, it needs to prove there’s a real reason to switch. And these malware-like advertisements are not the solution. They only worsen the appearance of the service.