Office 365 ProPlus to switch default search from Chrome to Bing

Microsoft ha anunciado que cambiará el motor de búsqueda predeterminado de Google Chrome a Bing para sus clientes de Office 365 ProPlus. Este cambio entrará en vigor en febrero de 2020 y afectará a los usuarios de Australia, Canadá, Francia, Alemania, India, Reino Unido y Estados Unidos.

The company says the move is intended to give users better access to Microsoft Search, which is integrated with Office 365 and can provide relevant workplace information directly from the browser. Microsoft Search can also connect to other Microsoft services such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Teams.

However, some users may not welcome this change and may prefer to keep their current default search engine. Microsoft says users can opt out of this change by using an opt-out registry key or by configuring Office 365 ProPlus through Group Policy. Administrators can also reverse the change after it has been applied by using the Microsoft Search extension in Bing.

Microsoft says it will provide more details and guidance on how to manage this change in the coming weeks. The company also says it welcomes feedback from its customers and partners on how to improve its products and services.

It appears that Microsoft’s decision to automatically change the default search engine in Chrome to Bing for business users, specifically those using Office 365 ProPlus, has caused frustration and negative reactions among users. The primary motivation behind this move is to integrate Microsoft’s search functionality into the Chrome browser for users to access workplace information directly from the browser address bar.

In fact, forcing such a change can be controversial, as users often prefer to have control over their default settings. In this case, it seems that the forced change has provoked negative reactions, as seen in the Reddit discussion you mentioned.

It is not uncommon for changes to the default settings to generate negative feedback, especially when they are perceived as intrusive or unnecessary. Microsoft may need to carefully consider user feedback and potentially provide more flexibility or options for users to choose their preferred search engine within the Office 365 ProPlus environment. User experience and flexibility are crucial aspects to consider when implementing changes that impact established workflows.

Microsoft has decided to make Bing the default search engine for Office 365 ProPlus users, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you are a system administrator and want to prevent this change from happening, you have a few options to do so. You can change the settings.

xml in the Office Deployment Tool and remove the line that installs the Bing extension, or you can apply a group policy that disables the installation of the extension. Alternatively, if you are using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager or Microsoft Intune, you can simply turn off the switch or uncheck the box that allows the extension to be installed. More details on how to exclude Bing from your Office 365 ProPlus installation can be found on the Microsoft Docs support page.