this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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Microsoft was caught testing way too many ads on its Bing Search results page. I saw 9 ads and only two organic/free listings on the page for a query on [garage door repair].

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[–] b3an@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I started using and paying for Kagi. Fuck Google and Microsoft.

[–] Scrollone@feddit.it 1 points 54 minutes ago

I'd love to use Kagi but I'm too poor for their pro subscription (and I use too many search queries)

I do, too, and I hope they increase their own search index to reduce the dependency on Google/Microsoft. I love the great search experience but I hate that I'm (indirectly) giving those companies my money.

[–] raptir@lemmy.zip 2 points 14 hours ago

Two of the ads are for the same company, and that company is also one of the two organic results.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 2 points 16 hours ago

Way to confuse adblock users

[–] Enelop@lemm.ee 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

This is what Google and Amazon already do, why are they singling out Bing?

Use an advertisement blocker on either site and the entire experience seems foreign.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 20 hours ago

Satya the creep testing boundaries

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 24 points 21 hours ago

Gross but also... kinda curious from an A/B testing perspective to know when the user drop off happens. Kind of like, what's the pain threshold before someone stops using shitty software. The answer really should be zero but the average user... ugh, it's probably fucking 8 or 9 and we should be ashamed.

Too bad is Bing so the sample size is too small for any meaningful results.

[–] kepix@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago

i feel bad for all the 10 bing users

[–] vodkasolution@feddit.it 17 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Do people actually use Bing??? Apart from the ms reward

[–] Pamasich@kbin.earth 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

It's a lot better nowadays than Google, so I do, yeah.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 15 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

duckduckgo is mostly based on bing results so you could try that too.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 21 points 22 hours ago

I use its image search to study human anatomy.

[–] wwb4itcgas@lemm.ee 12 points 23 hours ago

What a waste of bandwidth, energy and time.

[–] singletona@lemmy.world 65 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Tea@programming.dev 37 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Next up they might test making the whole first page for ads, and the pages after that for search results.

[–] wwb4itcgas@lemm.ee 34 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

Hell, why even have organic search results at all? Just rank results by how much each site owner is willing to ~~bribe~~ pay. A protection racket for the 21st century.

"That's a nice website you've got there. It'd be a shame if it got no visitors."

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 1 points 46 minutes ago

This is Bing we're talking about, the website owner may not even notice.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

well you'd think at some point people would stop using their bullshit search engine.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Good idea, you now quality to mod r/anarchocapitapism

[–] wwb4itcgas@lemm.ee 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

While I don't mind laissez-faire in principle, that not my favorite anarcho-flavor and I don't wanna :)

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago

I am empathetic to wanting to be left alone. I am disturbed by their desire to tear down systems that protect others out of some a historic notion that we would be better off with out them