Microsoft launched full-size ads for the Edge browser when users used it to download Google Chrome in February this year. Now, Microsoft seems to be doing the same thing again, but with a new approach.
According to The Verge, when journalists in different parts of the U.S. and even outside the U.S. typed “Chrome” into the Edge browser, it instead generated answers that looked like the Bing Chat AI, but instead of Chrome, the content was an ad about Bing Search, with the headline “Bing: The Search Engine That’s More Than Just Search.”
Apparently, Microsoft has decided to advertise Bing through AI search answers when users use Edge to find information about “Chrome”, which is not a regular search result. When The Verge asked about the AI chat search results, Microsoft’s director of product marketing Jason Fischel gave an initial response, translated as follows:
"We often experiment with new features, user experiences and behaviors to test, learn and improve the customer experience. These tests are typically brief and not necessarily representative of what is ultimately or broadly available to customers."After the story was published, Microsoft Jason Fischel sent back another response stating that Microsoft had removed the ad and that “the experience is no longer interstitial.”
While this particular interaction with Bing Search may have been turned off, it does suggest that Microsoft is continuing to experiment with more possible “advertising” methods to promote Bing Search.
