Summary
- Bing previously mimicked Google’s design to trick users into thinking they’d reached Google.
- Now Bing openly says searches can fund “free donations” to nonprofits via Microsoft Rewards.
- The charity perk may nudge people to switch, and Bing has gained some ground against Google.
Microsoft hasn’t been the most honest company with its search engine, Bing. It has done some pretty strange and somewhat shady stuff in the past to encourage people to use its search engine. In the past, the company would detect when someone used Bing to search for Google, then show a new page where Bing would mimic Google’s design elements to trick people into thinking they had arrived at their intended destination. The truth is, they never left Bing; it’s just Bing that looks surprisingly like Google.
Although it appears that Bing hasn’t stopped exhibiting this behavior, Microsoft has introduced a new element into the mix. Now, it will tell you that you’re still using Bing; however, if you decide to stay with Microsoft’s search engine instead of switching to Google, your searches can help fund charities at no cost to you.
Microsoft’s newest tactic against Google involves donations to charity via Bing searches
As spotted by Windows Latest, something has changed when you use Bing to search for “Google.” The somewhat Google-like search box still appears, but this time, it doesn’t seem like Microsoft wants to pretend it’s Alphabet’s search engine. In fact, right over the search box, it reads:
Every Microsoft Bing search brings you closer to a free donation for over 2 million nonprofits!
You can then click the words “free donation” to see what, exactly, Microsoft means by this. As it turns out, the company means what it said, as Windows Latest discovered:
In our tests, Windows Latest found that the URL opens rewards.microsoft.com/redeem/donate?form=sdonate, which is the redeem or donate endpoint.
Bing usage is tied to Microsoft Rewards. And Microsoft’s in-house rewards program, called Microsoft Rewards, supports “donations.” You can contribute by using Bing regularly.
If you’re signed in, Bing converts your Rewards points earned from searches into a donation to a nonprofit you pick. It’s “free” to you because it’s funded from Microsoft’s Rewards budget/ad spend.
So, what Microsoft is doing is reminding people that they can use Bing searches to earn Microsoft Rewards points, which can then be converted into donations of their choice. And to be honest with you, I’m totally fine with that. If people want to pivot away from Google to Bing because they can raise donations for their favorite charity at no additional cost simply by searching, I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to make the switch.
Regardless, it appears that Microsoft is doing something right, as the company has managed to gain ground against Google’s search engine in the past few months.