Microsoft preventing new Lumia owners from changing the default search engine to Google [update]

Yea I hit gold status on mine in getting at least 25points a day

I hope it's on US devices only, cause Bing outside of US is a piece of shit.
If it's not US only then I do think it will affect sales, one more reason to not to switch to WP!

I disagree. The results I get from Bing searches are good, I live in Honduras. I have yet to find a situation where I say "Bing is a piece of shit"

Compiux maybe it works in your country, but it sucks in mine. So yeah!

In México it sucks! =/... Every other day I give it a try and it stills sucks... I download the only google app I feel I need... google :(

It sucks in Japan too.. :(

I'm not of much agency to discuss this at length, but Bing on both the computer and Windows Phone in the U.S. is good for me. I prefer having options, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over not being able to switch to Google on my next Windows Phone.
  [Quick Update] That said, it could be a potential problem for those moving from Android or iOS that want to retain Google as their search engine. My question for this is: if Microsoft wants to see Bing as the only search engine available for Windows Phone, how would they make the transition from search engine to search engine easy? What would they do about this issue going forward?

I leave outside the US I found Bing to be as good as Google and in some cases better.

This. Must cases

Most of you Non-United States people using Bing are fanboys of Microsoft. That's why you keep defending Bing. The fact is that Google Search is 100x better than Bing outsides of US, so just accept it.
If Microsoft wants us to use Bing, than they should improve their service outside of US too.

Okay mate
Enough of your shit
Right now u are acting like you are a google fanboy

Look, he is right. I am from Europe and Bing's performance is really weaker here. I use Bing but Google is more efficient here. No doubt.

You can always set your homepage/bookmark to the 'American' Bing on your desktop and change the region on your phone. http://www.bing.com/?mkt=en-US

Yeah and then you lose the localised results...

I don't really care about them because I hardly ever search for anything local. But if i do, I use Google :/

Come on mate no need to be like that. I live in Australia and the result in bing is awful. Localise stuff isnt that great. I prefer google results. Even thou there is a bunch of ads. Bing in some instance is good but not great. Also right now your acting like a MS fanboy. 

The fact is that if Google doesn't want to provide a YouTube app and other Google services on WP, then why help them by allowing their browser on your platform. And don't give me the crap about pleasing the users as ving will find the information you need, if not, use your PC, laptop, or Mac

I supose you could stil go to Google.com and search with Google if you like. So what's the problem? What I find annoying is that I cant delete chrome from my Windows Vista Samsung laptop, that to me is Weard!!! Also hate the fact I can't delete chrome from my android phone. Posted via Windows Phone Central App

And what's wrong with being an MS fanboy on an MS oriented site?

Fedrat, Thanks a zillion for that response, I was thinking it exactly. I am yet to see what I don't like on MS ecosystem, They are not perfect, but for what I want and do, they rock. I even hardly compare them to other platforms because I don't use other platforms. I love Bing sport, bing travel, bing finance, bing reward, bing trnslator, I love beta Cortana. I love Here Drive and lots of other Here apps and features. I love family safety features, what is there not to love. My wife uses iPhone 5, she does not know 70% of what that iPhone can do, but she love it. she says Siri's searches are million years ahead and better, and as assistant; better than Google now and MS Cortana. I laughed, she says what's funny, I said your beloved Siri uses BING as backend for Siri search, so, I told her to say BING 3 times for not knowing, My wife is not the only one who did not know that most of their beloved complements for Siri seaches belong to BING. Yahoo search engine is BING Powered and Apple just resently set BING as default for one their iPhone feature's search engine. Am I saying the competion do not have some aspect of their features that are better than MSFT?, NOPE, that is not what I am saying and I am not interested if their features are better, I will explore alternatives (Platforms and or features wise) when MSFT computing and phone platforms STOP letting me do what I want to do and explore, until then, for me, MSFT and its ecosystem Rock. If you tell any iAnything owner with proofs about their iDevice on how horidly expensive iDevices are and why they are not worth those prices and that android have features 3 years ahead that are just making it to iDevice, their response is unbelievably universal, its like they all attended a traing school to answerr that question. You will here them use buzz words like. 1) I am paying for the Experience that is second to NONE 2) Apple Quality is un-matched anywhere in the world 3) Nothing beats the feal of Apple product in your hand 4) It just works 5) We don't need those stinking features, they have to be gimmics, when they are done right and ready for use, Apple will provide it.  You see why the tech world call these iDevice folks LOYAL APPLE FANS. They don't care what other platforms have that is better than their iDevice or that they don't have, or the fact that for any mobile phone or tablet release, All of them get the same thing from the same vendor with zero variety and choice. I guess in some sense, I am like them, I simply bleed Microsoft and it works for me, but, unlike idevice owners, I get options and choices in terms of hardware, features, designs etc and varying price points from bazzillion of different OEMs. So, I admit, I am a fanboy.

Yikes...I thought I bled Microsoft. :-)

That isn't a fact here in Canada, sure there are extras I would love but for basic searches of text strings, images, videos and mapping Bing is great

Maybe it's time people like you actually look into WHY it's not as good in your country. There has to be a reason, and I highly doubt it's "because Microsoft doesn't want to" or whatever.

Well , I live in Tunisia , and i have found the Tunisian google to be as horrible as the tunisian  bing , so I simply change my country To US when I ned english results anf France when I need french results , and i have found them to offer quite similar results for most searches BUT bing wins with the interface and those amzaing daily images and less annoying ads.
The bottom of the line : search engines are like anti-viruses , they're as good as is the amount of information collected , since there's no sorcery concerned or included :p

actually, bing is really quite decent where I live in the UK.  This isn't even fanboyism.  It finds pretty much most things I look for.  Local results are good; most of our local businesses are on there.  I ran a test right now and it found what google found without preamble.  It finds some of the more discreet local pubs and restaurants too. Even more technical searches are fine.  My typical video games or bicycle maintenance related searches deliver accurate and relevant results. Maybe bing is truly awful in your area, but in my area it's fine.  Don't go calling others fanboys just because they disagree with you - that's immature.  Call me a fanboy if you want but at the end of the day I get decent search results which is all that matters.

Yeah!!
Really don't know why people outside US keep defending Bing when it's quite clear that Google offers better features there. The folks at Bing only care about US

That's true! I've tried to use Bing here in Portugal but it never shows me what I'm searching for. It would be awful if we were obliged to use Bing.

Yeah, I think that Google Search a little better than Bing in Indonesia. Example: open www.bing.com, type buzz cctv, it will not show www.buzzcctv.com but if you open www.google.com and type buzz cctv, it will show www.buzzcctv.com

I tried that and google, nor bing, showed Buzz CCTV. One thing you need to understand about most search engines is they do something called 'filter bubbling' which effectively means they learn what kind of searches you normally do and tailor your results to match this.   As such, people who have been using google for a long time have 'taught' it how to tailor results based on the kind of searches they usually do - in short search engines can 'get better' over time. If you hardly use Bing and just go there for the occasional search then it won't know your preferences so its results will be a lot broader unless you use it more.

Bing most certainly IS a piece of shit in New Zealand.

Who uses IE any way... :-)

About 58% of the world computing o desktops only, and mind boggling 48% for desktop and mobile combined. Get a load of this, IE has 2% vesus 47% on Safari and 39% combined for Chrome + Android browser for Phones and Tablets. Stats wise, the question is when desktop is combined with mobile platforms (phones and tablets), Chrome + Android is 19% and Safari is 12%. This clearly shows that NOT MANY PEOPLE browse the internet as much on Mobile Platforms as they do on the DESKTOP where IE rules and  we are talking about data as recent as June ending 2014. So, Tons of people use IE compared to Chrome, chances are you did not see that coming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers Share of desktop browsers for June 2014
Chrome- 19.34%
InternetExplorer- 58.38%
Firefox- 15.54%
Safari- 5.28%
Opera- 1.05%
Other- 0.41% Share of desktop and mobile browsers combined for June 2014
AndroidBrowser-3.94%
Chrome-15.91%
InternetExplorer-48.39%
Safari-12.32%
Opera-2.18%
Other-4.47% Share of mobile (smartphone and tablet) browsers for June 2014
AndroidBrowser-22.77%
Chrome-16.67%
InternetExplorer-2.01%
Safari-47.06%
OperaMini-7.82%
Other-4.69%

bing search in chile is a disaster, is terrible so i am forced to use  google, but would not going back to android and the extreme  lag and extreme   errors in the middle of an app execution , master chaos5 why be blasfemous  if you do not like bing or  microsoft services and products so  please do not add your input to the topic , also   i think if microsoft want  get more people on wp  must first get out of the comfort zone and get out of the US, i feel that my phone is so US centered and many apps and features of windows phone just  are missed on  other countries like mine, can not look up by podcats on marketplace, can not  do an local search or scout,   but in the neighborn country argentina  they have  some of those services  deployed is just unfair

I live in Russia, using and enjoying Bing. BTW there should be a choice.

TLR... The world is bigger than the US. Bing might be perfectly passable in your country, but it isn't good enough in the UK. We also don't have Bing rewards. I imagine situation is pretty similar to mine in most of the world.

And as I mentioned in another comment, people are so busy letting their emotions get the best of them that they aren't reading this story the whole way through to find that this option removal isn't happening everywhere, so non US residents can relax.

Agree about the bing rewards part but besides that I get precise results on bing in UK.

In Brazil there is no Bing Rewards and Bing is really lame, at least in my phone... Google show me the best results in first 3 items and Bing shows it on the second or third page

same in Italy (where, beside that, MS sells a lot)

Well said...

I assume you live in the US. In Europe Bing is still rather useless.

Ya. That's the only deal breaker for me. Microsoft do something about it.

FWIW You can choose image resolution when searching from a PC.

Bing rewards isn't available in my region, and I don't care if it's here. Bing IS NOTHING COMPARED TO GOOGLE....

Never understood why they allowed it in the first place. Should be BING ONLY.

"Bing only" is not good enough. Bing is mostly optimized for USA, but not so relevant in some other countries.
Why force users to manually navigate to Google.com in order to make an effective search?

+1 I'm from Italy and I tried to use Bing a couple of times, but it's almost unusable, it never gives you the sites you're looking for, and the results in the first page seem to be in random order. I understand that Bing is great in the US, but at least here in Italy, Google is waaaay ahead.

This should force Google to bring their services to Windows Phone. Where's YouTube?
Microsoft isn't the only one screwing Google fans. Not saying that this is a good move (because frankly I don't use Google) but the choice to switch should be there. However don't expect Cortana to function...

  YouTube.com

Bing is shitty outside US,and we have no Bing rewards :( ,its better only at "researching" iykwim
Other than that id stick to Google

You need to use Bing to improve the service, Google isn't better because it's google, but because you have a billion people searching constantly on Google and thus doing the page ranking for google.  

Exactly.

This move could be anticipating wider release of Cortana; Cortana is becoming more tightly coupled with Bing.

Then go use an Android phone. I doubt most of you idiots on here complaining about how Bing is worse even have a Windows Phone.

What are you implying? That only MS fanboys would ever use a Windows Phone? I do use a Windows Phone, have been since HTC Titan, and have had 4 WPs after that. But Bing really is horrible where I live, and to be forced to use it as the default search engine would push more people away from WP than to promote Bing.

is an google search app if you do not like  bing or bing is a disaster in your country

Woah just because someone PREFERS a different search engine does not mean they have to have their entire life with the company. Heck I'm a convert, all my accounts feed into a primary gmail. And also +1020 on Bing sucking outside the US - when I was there on holiday it was fantastic and accurate....in New Zealand though I need localisation and it's inaccurate as. No hate against Bing - it's just that Google's had more time to localise here, so it's more accurate

It's never okay to remove choice.

Not something new, the option was removed from my old 928.

Cortana handle my search. So there isn't any diffrence

Yeah, I think that Google Search a little better than Bing in Indonesia. Example: open www.bing.com, type CCTV Jakarta, it will not show but if you open www.google.com and type CCTV Jakarta, it will show http://plazacctv.com/blog/cctv-jakarta/

I think this has more to do with Cortana than anything else. Whenever I search in IE I get pushed into Cortana. Even when I visit Bing.com  

On older Lumias? When I change the default to Google and search (via the address bar in IE) on my 1520 it performs a Google search as opposed to going through Cortana.

That's what I was thinking

My new 930 still has the option

Mine doesn't.. Its a brand new french 930. That's one of the first things I wanted to change (because I actually DON'T get the results I seek with Bing search), but I was quickly disapointed..

You can download the Google search app and pin the tile :) C'est facil monsieur.

I answered that before... Yep, I can, but I can also compare the features of every single damn web browser ever released on every damn OS and just realize that... they all offer to switch the default search provider..

The icon does as well. Guess nokia unlike other oems had more freedom

I use Bing anyway on my windows phone so this doesn't bother me in the least.

+1520 I love Bing on my both WP and PC.

I love Bing as well, but this is bound to catch fire with The Verge's crew of sensationalist click-baiters and turn into very, VERY bad press for Microsoft.

Sadly you might be right.

Sad day...

What about Google? This should force them to bring some of their services over. YouTube?
Google Search? (not sure if they updated that crap app or if it was removed) I'm happy Waze was released on WP before they got bought out by Google (probably the most accurate with fastest route navigation app on WP or anywhere) however I'm not holding my breath for any updates. Google doesn't care about Windows Phone users so Google users shouldn't have to bend over backwards to use their services. I'm sorry for my Windows Phone brothers outside of the U.S. where Bing isn't as awesome as it is here but hopefully Cortana will make up for it. My point is Google sucks for not caring and being too prideful about releasing apps on Windows phone. I love YouTube and wish I didn't have to use a third party app to use it...

Cortana doesn't make up for Bing being a load of crap here in Finland as it's not available here (unless you change the phone's region to US). With the current pace, I think we can expect worldwide Cortana availability around 2019 or so.

You should be able to use Google But since you want Cortana you are forced to use Bing. My point WAS that this is Google's problem not Microsoft. Why hasn't google released Chrome Google Search or YouTube? Microsoft dedicated their time to create an app for Google and they shut it down... Microsoft doesn't need to invest more time making google services available - GOOGLE DOES

How is Google supposed to add support for their search to IE?  That is completely up to Microsoft, and the fact is that they already had it implemented and then removed it.

Apparently you don't want Google as bad as you think. Microsoft removed Google from IE... That's Google's problem to make it available to you

Force what? Look at the market share of WP compared to Android and IOS.

That's another issue.

You seem to be infatuated with the verge.

Same

That's pathetic.. Bing just happens to suck everywhere else than the US >.>

It just so happens that 4 out of 5 times people who have taken the "Bing-It-On" challenge have chosen Bing over Google.  You can try it yourself at http://www.bingiton.com/.  I've chosen Bing 8 out of 10 times myself.  So actually, its Google that sucks!

Rubbish, I have tried that many times and 90% of results were better from google. Bings results is poor in the UK compared to google.

So? In my case basically every time I get useless results from Bing. Maybe in English speaking countries it works. In every other place on earth it sucks badly.

http://www.bingiton.com/ doesn't work in Finland. It redirects to bing.com. Is that feature US only too? You are kind of proving our point. :)

Ha, owned.

Apparently Bing "Predicted" you would've chosen "Bing"... Bing is usually right... 15/16 times

No, he's right. Outside of the US and maybe 2-3 other regions, Bing is behind google and almost unusable. I don't use google, but to have a partial good experience with Bing I had to switch my setting to use the US version.

Well, what the heck is taking Microsoft to get Bing up to par in other markets? I mean, it's really good in the USA. The results are better than Google's and you get Bing Rewards, plus a gorgeous home page compared to boring Google's, making it an amazing service. I don't understand why Microsoft takes so long to support other markets (e.g. Surface RT launch rollout was incredibly slow to other markets, as is the Xbox One market, which is absurd for a company as big as Microsoft).

All good things come to those who wait.  We are waiting here in the USA too.  European countries are getting the Windows Phone 8.1 update with Cyan firmware and it has yet to be released here in the United States.  Unlike Apple or Google who put out updates everywhere all at once with no regard to sparing users heartache and trouble when their updates cause major issues, Microsoft prefers to release in regions, that way if problems are discovered it's only a small number of users who are affected and they can quickly work out the fix before continuing the distribution to the rest of the world.  Personally, I would prefer to wait a little while to ensure what I'm getting is trouble free.

You got Cortana before everybody else man!!

Yes, but the difference is you guys could get Cortana by a work-around of changing your region to US.  We here in the US cannot get Cyan update until Microsoft (Nokia/Lumia) releases it to our carriers and then we have to wair until the carriers release it to us.  And there is NO WORK AROUND FOR US!  So you guys will get the Cyan Firmware update before us here in the USA. 

Once Microsoft brings Cortana out of Beta, you will see a HUGE difference!  That's all I'm saying!

We have been waiting for years already. Sorry for not holding my breath. But maybe they will add some new US only features? Just like they have done before. Like every-fu*ng-time before. Yes. I'm butthurt.

Bingiton only works in US

Read again, he said it sucks for people outside US

I don't think people are reading this enough before letting their emotions get the best of them... the option still remains in regions where Bing is underdeveloped.

I have a newly bought lumia 630 and i can change from bing to google. I am from europe.

+920 exactly!!

I just hope to have working Bing :I The built-in Bing button isn't too useful due to the fact that Google search works better while Bing often doesn't. I'd like to like Bing but in the current condition it lacks some really important features compared to its US counterpart. Cheers from Finland.

It works better then Google for me in Canada, and believe me I make a bunch of searches every day. Plus IV seen a shit ton of other people who will agree with me.

I think thats because Cortana uses Bing...

I still use Google

Google knows that too. #GoogleIsSpyware

Google knows they just don't care.

Imo Google results are better than Bing.

Sighs. Posted via Windows Phone Central App

I never use google!

Neither do I!
What's a Google BTW?

Lol...

What a jealous fanboy

Google sucks nope last resort only if I need it.

Yep. First Bing. Then Google. Posted via Windows Phone Central App

Exactly

I think that is not good for countries where bing is not that good .... :s

Tbh google search engine is better than bing

It may be if your language is English... Try searching something in Slovenian language for example and the results will be shit compared to Google's... Don't take me wrong, as much as I would like to use Bing over google, it is impossible to do so effectively where I live :)

This is a terrible decision for 3rd world countries specially where Bing is not worked...

I always prefer Google search.... Y MS done this.?

Y google no make apps for Windows Phone?
Y google no release YouTube?
Y google? Y?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

agree #evolutionheavy

+Lumia 720

+720

Well there's a difference between developping an app and .. just allowing to redirect to an url.. I mean, its just low from MS to do this, they're not punishing google here, just the users.

Punishment? Its not like google.com is blocked or you can't create a tile for it.
I get your point but its not punishment.

Well ok, I guess could pin a "google search" tile yeah.. But the all point of windows phone IMO was (at least I thought it was) the simplicity of the desktop and smoothness of the experience: I loved the ability to run Internet explorer, just proceed to my keyword search in the adress bar and get the google results. Just like it does on ie for Windows 8, just like it does anywhere else... Come on ! It a basic feature any web browser offers: choosing the default search provider ! Even Chrome allows us to switch to Bing. The feature already existed on ie for WP and was willingly removed. You say it's no punishment, what is it then ?  

Where's the chrome application?
I thought this was only a mobile issue?!
Chances are you can still set google as your primary search engine on IE however this should be a wake up call...
Google needs to invest resources to the windows phone platform or we need to stop crying that Bing sucks. Google.com is still available for those who really want it

You still don't understand... I'm talking about web browser comparison here, between any mobile/computer web browser vs ie for WP8: Any other browser, being on iOS, Android or MacOS or Windows (except WP8) will offer the feature.. What is difficult to understand here ? Why not aknowledge that it's ridiculous to remove the feature on ie for WP8 ?

My response to you is... "and?"
I have a Windows Phone and I use Bing because I prefer Bing. If not having Google on my IE was such a big problem for me then I would look at other options. If Google was important to me then I would email them and ask them to bring their services over. I would look at other options on how to get Google on my phone...
And if Google was truly that important then why am I with Windows Phone?

Like I said... " you probably haven't been affected by it but if you have there's other options on how to get Google on you phone" I don't really care to have a feature I'm not going to use especially if there's a better work around. Google tile would work as a browser and search option.

"And if Google was truly that important then why am I with Windows Phone?"..   Wow, I get your point now.. You're just "stuck".

I'm not complaining about not having Google on my IE and frankly because I don't use Google. There's a bigger problem here and that is Google's lack of support for those who truly want and need their services on Windows Phone. The oS on Windows Phone gives you a great way to get your google fix... You don't want it? Fine. You can still use Google.com, not good enough? Ok. Third party apps? No? The only thing that will fix this is having Microsoft allow IE users to change their default search engine??? Ok... & I'm the one who's stuck?

.. Lol.. Since the debate has to start over: You don't understand my point: I don't give a single damn about the war between google and windows phone. I just don't. Honestly I don't care. All I see, is an IMPORTANT missing feature that is available on any web browser and is not on ie for WP8.  I'm not saying this will fix anything, and I don't give a sh** about the rest of the debate ie google not doing this, or being bad at doing this.. I just don't. I just want A REAL web browser. If you can't understand that without coming back on the "google vs microsoft" debate, then no need to answer because it's not my point and I don't give a damn. Both company are doing a lot of money on my back, I don't need to be taken in hostage by either of them and having to make concession on important features just to support one or the other.

Smh
Its always going to be Microsoft vs Google vs Apple. Once you realize that you'll be a much happier camper

Good. Cortana and Bing should be the only WP combo

It does not bother me at all...i have been using Bing since the day I switch to window phone

+1020 (EOL)

Good move Microsoft ...we dont need google either !

Good one. Try using Bing outside of the US.

I use Bing exclusively and live outside the US. Actually, I haven't used Google in over a year. What are you guys searching for that Bing doesn't provide the expected results?

Good one. Try downloading a Google app. Oh wait... Google doesn't care if you want google

Done, easy as fuck.

everybody needs google BING SUCKS!

I AM using bing outside the US ....in India . The search results are almost same. Are you not using cortana ? But its not officially available outside US . And google has blocked its services for us then why not Microsoft block google on wp ?

I'm living in India too, I use Bing on my windows phone but Google on PC (Windows 8.1). Bing on PC is just not as efficient and precise as Google is.

I am using bing on my phone and pc
search results are the same
And I m from India

"search results are the same" Unless you input a number of keywords to convey a meaning, yes. But it lacks a lot of features too, which Google has. Like, more search filters, image filters, it won't show when I last visited the site, no anti-virus add-on support to tell me which page is risky... I can go on and on... Being a programmer, I often need to look-up for resources, error meanings and a lot of things. I tried to use only Bing for a week (I love MSFT over Google). But I couldn't, had to go back to Google against my wish. Having said that, Google Search is the only Google product that I use after YouTube otherwise I'm into MSFT.

Very silly

Good news

My 930 works with Google. :D

I'm sorry to hear that.

Did google bang your mom and never call back? You sound like google really hurt you...do you wanna talk about it?

Oddom. Seriously... Its only gay if you push back... and you pushed back. Sorry I never called back.

Wow..what's wrong with being gay you gay basher. Anyway I hope you feel better once google stops breaking your car windows or whatever its doing.

There's nothing wrong with you. You're just not my type so stop texting... You are starting to look desperate and creepy.

Can't defend your point and admit google did nothing so you make stupid comments XD ok I get it your not smart enough. Keep being a hater since that's what you seem to do best :D

Aw, did daddy hurt your feelings?
Don't open your mouth and I wont stick my d!@k in it. Stick to the subject and don't try to be funny. Hater? SMH... Stupid girl.

Sounds like I win ;D

You sure did sweety.

I have 930 (living in Finland) and I still have that option. This is normal Verge bs!

Horrible, horrible move. Even in US, Google has better results than Bing. Try doing an academic research on Bing and you'll know what I mean.

I admit that Google Scholar is better than Microsoft Academic Search, but in all other instances, I find Bing results in the U.S. to be much better than Google's, particularly with the social results spliced in. Bing almost always gives me more relevant results. And without spying on me too.

Look I do academic searches on Bing all the time. Bing gave me straight A's. And I'm not in dummy classes. -_- I needed to find a textbook. Google gave me nothing and Bing gave me the one from the publisher. That was in history. It also worked for Algebra 2. Posted via Windows Phone Central App

I didn't even know such an option existed.

That's an awesome Job MS...I use google only to check my internet connectivity status.......Scroogle....

Terrible decision - Bing is sh*t outside of the US! Microsoft should tread carefully before pushing a sub par offering down the consumers throat.
Silly decision - and a definite red flag issue for when the time comes for me to upgrade from my 1020

Why are you mad at Microsoft?
You should be upset at google for not releasing apps on Windows Phone to fill in this void you have deep in your heart. Where's Youtube? (google doesn't care)
Google Search? Google Services?
You are upset at Microsoft for not giving you google?!
You should be upset at google for not giving you google.

There are other ways to use YouTube so don't get to mad...metro tube and prime tube work just fine.

MyTube

No, you are completely missing the point. When I do a browser search on any device, I have the choice over which search engine to use. I don't like Google the company....but being from the UK, their results are vastly better (and more contextual) than Bing.
Removing the option to have Google as the default search client just adds another layer of frustration. There may be good reason for it....but whatever the reason, it is a serious issue for me.
I want Google News, Shopping and Scholar results to come up instantly. I should have that choice...
All the other google services are ancillary. Google search is a core service - one which MS just has not matched outside of the US with Bing.

You points are valid.
Google.com is still available and you can pin that as a tile.

Google got all mad at Microsoft for making a YouTube app, and forced its removal... That and seeing as there are no google apps at all on the store... I'd say google could have easily forced Microsoft to remove Google from the search engines list, to try to make them seem bad, and thus make users want to switch to something else (Android)... I just fucking hate google with all my heart at this point.

+1020

These kind of things puts me off, MS talks of fair play, then, they should practice what they preach

Well said. When we bitch about Google for not having the balls to take MS head-on by trashing support for apps like YouTube and Google Maps (no offence, HERE, I understand HERE and Google Maps are both crowd sourced, and the crowd is larger for Google; still, from a customer perspective), we do not have any ground to speak when MS does this kida stuff.

translation? google. search? bing. map? HERE/bing bing need to improve their translator, google offline map is very limited, doesn't like HERE/bing

The concept is nice.

No it isn't. Both iOS and Android allow the option to choose. A smartphone should be about choice....especially when Bing is rubbish outside of the US. I will not upgrade my 1020 if this issue is not resolved.
I do not like Google - but its search engine is vastly better than Bing in the UK.

I can understand that, but in future there will be Cortana to look after. You can't alter that to google or bing to choose from for results!
Bing will be default in that case.
Everyting is upto Microsoft!
I started using bing here in India for experiment and I was impresses and now i hardly visited google in 3years and now m totally bing it for everything.

+630

+520

Bing sucks big time in Portugal, im forced to use google, nice move from microsoft, its all about getting the user experience worst for consumers outside US....

Again... No blame for google? Your anger should be directed towards Google not Microsoft. MS doesn't make Google search... Google should release apps on Windows Phone to make you happy.
Be upset at Google because you can't use their services not Microsoft. Its in Microsoft's best interest for you to use BING

Ok I'm starting to think you secretly want all the google services but are to stubborn to use any other platform...stop being so angry at google when you have the option to use another platform. If not then just be happy with Microsoft and use the third party google options people have made.

I don't use google. However no one stops and thinks before they blame Microsoft. I'm in the U.S. And Bing works great here but outside of the U.S. Not so much I guess. If Google had a handful of apps in the store and Microsoft pulled this I can see that being a dick move. People are complaining for a service that's important to them but fail to realize that Google is the one intentionally not providing it.
Microsoft has no incentive in having this option and apparently more to gain so I'm all for it. The only two Google services I use is YouTube and Waze

I disposed of Google a long time ago. Doesn't bother me.

You're missing the point....

I think everyone is missing the point.
No one seems to be upset at Google for not releasing apps that help you access their services... If you had google search or Chrome on windows phone how would this affect you?
Microsoft has Cortana and those markets where Cortana is available should be required to use Bing for the best possible experience. You want google search download the app. Microsoft doesn't need to invest more time on creating another app for google where google is going to force them to shut it down.

Except the point here is not "to create an app for google" but just to keep the url redirection that was proposed to the users.. That's basically no work at all, no code line to write, nothing.. Now here in France with my L930: - I don't have Cortana - Bing results sucks I can't choose Google as a default search provider, excuse me but I feel like I've been f***ed.

Then you weren't affected by it. Google.com is still available for those who are. A lot of us are pointing fingers at Microsoft for not allowing the option to set google as your primary search because "Bing sucks" where they live...
Again... Google.com is still available however where are the google apps? If we had a google search app or other google service application then the problem would be solved. You can still Google and even set a dedicated tile for google.com that Cortana can open for you. There's a work around for this small little inconvenience that requires no additional code as well...
You still wont be happy because you want google but the problem isn't Microsoft its google.

I'm sorry, maybe its because I'm not a native english speaker but I don't get your point here.. Why am I not affected by it ? I don't "just want google", I just want the feature to choose the default search provider which is just an URL redirection and WAS available on my previous Lumia 1020 and is available on any other web browser. Now, they WILLINGLY removed it.. There was no work at all, no API is needed to provide google search results in a web browser.
I know I can pin a custom tile but still it looks like a stupid retaliation that will annoy a lot of users.
A lot of people from France or UK would tell you that Bing results are inaccurate.. That's a fact.

Then you want google. Not just on your browser but as a dedicated app. Microsoft doesn't own google and has no incentive in making it easy for Google. Microsoft would prefer you use Bing and help make Bing better. All I am saying that this is Google's fault and your anger should be directed at Google not Microsoft.

Nope. Not at all, I want a descent web browser offering the basic functionnalities that MUST be included on any web browser: switch search provider. This has nothing to do with google.  Plus the all "Microsoft would prefer you use Bing and help make Bing better" is irrelevant because, they could just set it to Bing by default (just like they did in the past) but still allow you to change. Most of users will use the phone as it is out of the box, so there's plenty of Bing users already I think this debate has no end here, I'm obviously facing a major defender of Microsoft, but don't take me wrong: I'm a WP user among the first, I'm also a .net developer, so I'm not shooting at Microsoft for fun here, I'm REALLY disappointed by this behaviour, that's all.  

I was starting to feel the same way lol Good talk and no hard feelings I hope.

Bing has the best search imo

I've been the biggest WP cheerleader and I'm getting by without Chrome, but if they take away my google I might have to go back to iOS or give Android a try.. :( 

Same here. I love my 1020...but being forced to use Bing would hobble it! Stupid decision...but VERY Microsoft!

Come on guys -- it's not like you can't use the Google search app, and pin it to your phone? ;)

Boo! You're killing my outrage..

Joe920 -- pmsl ;)

+1020

Good move Microsoft. If you want to use scroogle then buy a hackdroid.

Rather than disable Google, they should just make it work badly on Windows hardware.
And they should take down the Google App and make them write it in other code. At least three times. Then ban it anyway.

Lol

lol

Bing in europe is not one of the greatest.
Maybe the future wil change that but for now.....
But you can always go to google.com and pin that on you homescreen.  

Good.

Well that's shit. Bing is complete bollocks in the UK. Damn muricans.

Ikr? Bing sucks so much outside of US. But I hope people outside of US get to change the Search Engine!

It isn't that bad. I use Bing exclusively, and I live in the UK and have no problems with it.

Good for you, on my side, it sucks. Thanks.

Sucks for me too! Also, no Bing Rewards....so literally zero incentive to use it.
I will make my future buying choice on the strength of this decision. I will not be forced to use a subpar search engine
(1020, UK)

Microsfot is really stupid, bing will never compete with Google search results. BING SUCKS Microsoft, realize it!

If you are outside if the USA I see your point. Otherwise, stop being biased towards the branding and actually look at the results. Bing gives free money, looks nicer, and gave me straight A's. Google's opposite of that. Posted via Windows Phone Central App

Yes I am outside USA, and even on the USA I would still use Google, thats why 80% of the population uses it :)

I would prefer to use Bing, but until MS gets its head out of its arse and starts supporting the rest of the countries that use their product it's impossible. Change your region to the UK and look at the difference in even the Bing search page on WP. Is sparse and basic. The US version is massively featured packed compared to ours.

Well seeing as how those who want to use Google can still go to their website I don't see what the big deal is. Bing is better anyhow.

This type of logic is dumb. MS is removing a feature that myself and many other people use, and really enjoy, for no given reason. Simply does not make sense to me. If Bing is so great then why do so few people use it? And yes, I understand that all the MS fanboys on this site will say Bing is better. But that's not what usage statistics show. It's not what I've seen in my personal experience.   Simply put - don't keep screwing with this OS by removing features that people had, that people liked.

Amen Malcolm. That succinctly summarises this whole debacle!

You only have to pin the google.com tile once to your home screen and problem solved. It can even replace you dedicated IE tile...
Seriously this oS takes care of that... Lol Reply: But your missing the point - I want it as an option - it was already there. Bing sucks - I don't want to do that.

I don't see how pinning the tile to the homescreen alleviates every issue. I can't tell you how often I type a search into the address bar because I want to get Google search results. It will be a shame if I can no longer do this and am forced to search with Bing when typing into the address bar or have to go back to my homescreen to open a tile that directs to Google.   Simply put - STOP TAKING AWAY FEATURES THAT PEOPLE USE AND PEOPLE LIKE. For example, a working Xbox Music app - STOP TAKING THAT AWAY FROM US. Another example, music playing in IE11 stops when you go to another tab or when you go to the homescreen - this was not the case in IE10.   MS needs to stop removing features and start adding features to their OS. They are not the #1 OS for a reason. Time to work toward changing that, not continuing to reinforce their position in 3rd place by a LONG shot.

Do not let people judge that you are afraid of something. Let them decide on merits.

I hope the guy who was behind this change got laid off in the upcoming job cut.

I wish you promotions and happiness within Microsoft. Hopefully that cancels your bad mojo...

Google>>>> Bing

Loool Posted via Windows Phone Central App

Very childish & tit for tat! Grow up Microsoft!

What? And you think that googles youtube rant wasn't childish? Just showing the bugger picture

Yes that was childish too, but wp isn't as well established as google/youtube yet, wp cant afford to loose customers by playing silly games, they need to focus on building a customer base not pissing them off!

True but still...

You keep your bugger picture to yourself, mate. You can be arrested for that these days.

This is business my dear. And in today's competitive corporate world , this seems a very small move compared to what other companies are doing . And dont ask Microsoft to grow up , its a company. And this is a business decision.

Lets see where wp is in 3yrs then with their 'business decisions' so far....not so good I'm afraid.....the figures speak for themselves 'my dear'

Why dont you see how much wp has grown in past 3 yrs huh? And how much google has grown in computers market ? Chrome OS ? Chrome book ? Android for PC ? Atleast Microsoft is well established in PC sector to say the least

I have watched how slowly wp has grown and its been like watching thick paint dry....maybe Microsoft should just stick to what they know best? (and that's not the mobile market) its boring & cringey to watch this mess unfold!

Actually you love to watch it unfold , that is why you are here on wpcentral

I'm pleased you agree wp is infact unfolding.

We'll come back in 3 years... One of us we'll eat their words

I now use Bing for my primary search engine. I used to be a Google user for years but really can't see a substantial difference between the two services anymore. I quit Google when they started forcing ads down our throats on YouTube as my expression of disgust. Google is a pure advertising company and I simply do not like them - my choice pure and simple!

Is it a Cortana thing?

Ask her

The reason is because Cortana uses Bing not Google search engine.  There are a LOT of new features coming for Cortana when she comes out of BETA that will require the use of Microsofts services over Googles and this will allow Cortana to provide services that Google and Google now cannot.  (Insider info, sworn to secrecy so don't ask! - but you're gonna LOVE IT!) Also, if any of  you have taken the Bing It On challenge as I have, you'd know that Bing is actually a better search engine than Google.  This is one of the reasons Apple chose Bing search engine for Siri over Google's search engine.  So why would anyone complain about NOT having Google on their Windows Phone?

Gee, let me guess, you live it the states? Otherwise there is NO WAY you would say its better than google, and I hate google as a company.

The "Bing It On" Challenge is not exactly scientific.. And is it "insider" info you have--or perhaps "employee" info? Maybe Public Relations? :)

Well, I don't work for, nor do I get paid by Microsoft in any way, if that's what you're implying.  And that is ALL you will get out of me except that there is an old saying - "The best things in life are worth waiting for..."   :-)  Give Microsoft time, look at what they have accomplished in just the past year alone.

@NOLA, This comment is just silly.

Good

Google sucks... Bing dominates ;-)

Lumia 630, unlocked, still able to change. Bought in Sweden.

This is shit.

I prefer google search and not happy when my 930 will arrive on Thursday and I cant change it to google.

Use the Google app mate -- no big ting ;)

If your phone is not from the US & your region is not set to US than you can change your Search Engine to Google!

False. My L930 bought in France, with French settings doesn't have the option. First thing I checked when I got it.

That is fair enough and good info. But clearly a LOT of places still offer the selection. There are reports from all over Europe and Asia, from unlocked and locked devices alike, still retaining the Google option in this thread. Obviously the article is wrong saying this affects all devices with the exception of some locked devices being the exception. More true would be saying "Google option seems to be disabled in some WP regions in WP 8.1, still there in others" or somesuch until we know of the logic behind this. The Verge source is absolutely wrong too. Personally I have an unlocked, brand new Lumia 930 that still has the Google option.  

Well I don't doubt that the issue seem to hit random markets.. My only last "hope" is that it is some kind of "bug" or "missing feature" that has not been deployed on some device and will be in the future updates... Hope is all I can do :) I envy you and your "google allowed" 930 !

+1

I prefer Bing anyway couldn't give a shit tbh lol

According to this: https://twitter.com/pocketAM/status/488994512644341760 that is not true. Might it depend on the region?

As much as I like MS, Bing is absolute rubbish for those who don't live in the states, search results are so bad, and I try to force myself to it a lot, but it just doesn't deliver the right results.

I'm in Europe and even here, I still use Bing after doing the http://www.bingiton.com/ blind test (I prefered Bing's results over Google Search's 4 times out of 5!). So, I've never turned back. In fact, I've found a solid alternative, often from MS, for every Google product out there to the point that I got rid of Google on all my devices and PC's. My privacy thanks me for this all the time. Sure, internationally, Google Search still has a few more features than Bing. But when you do your usual run-of-the-mill search on a WP or even on a PC with Windows 8 via Bing's integrated Smart Search, Bing not only is comparable to Google but comes ahead. Just make the blind test and see by yourself, guys!
 

What's a google?

Lol

Haha ! Posted via Windows Phone Central App

I live in Bulgaria, use a L630 and still have that option

Possibly

Microsoft should have known better than try something like this. They know it's going to get blown completely out of proportion and end up costing them in the end. It's decisions like this that are making me seriously consider picking up an iPhone 6. SMH

I agree but man, just pin google.com to your start screen! How hard can it be? Btw, a new WP costs HALF the price of an iphone and can do exactly the same stuff... Just in a different way. I'd say it even does some things better. Imo your wasting your money on an iphone The most over rated phone on the market

COMPLETELY AGREE!   iPhone is way overpriced!  Even comparing iPhone to top of the line WP, WP is still cheaper, has better camera, better video recording, better audio recording, longer battery life, tougher more scratch resistant glass (GG3), universal USB charging (not proprietary Lightning connection), wireless charging, NFC communication, file manager, plug and explore file manipulation (don't need iTunes to move pictures, music, videos, documents around on your phone).  Need I really go on?

Wow, you listed so many more features than I could even think of, thanks mate! ...you missed Cortana... :)

+520

Why don't you just pin google.com to your home screens if you guys are so bothered, it takes the same time to get to it, and is still only 2 taps away. Believe me, I've timed it Anyway, google.com mobile version is rubbish anyway interms of how the results are displayed. The results for both are good enough for me in the UK, no substantial difference imo, but depends what you use it for

Hmm I never changed it to Google, all I did was to bookmark Google.com and had it tiled to my start page. If I want to Google something I just hit the tile and Google away. Don't use it much, that is why the tile is dropping to the bottom of my tiles.

Good on you mate for pinning. I don't see what all the fuss is about

I actually use Bing, but I think its pretty petty to withhold a competitor, I know google does it to WP all the time, but, better Man, and all that.

Well i don't even have a Lumia but an HTC 8x running the 8.1 dp & i can't even find any options at all for changing internet explorers default search.

Why would you want to use Google anyway? Kind of defeats the purpose of choosing Windows Phone.

I want better experience of bing on my windows 7 pc. It really isn't that good except basic search. I think its better on windows 8. Is it????

Promoting Bing and Cortana. There trying to force people to know these features so everything is familiar. Of course, compared to Apple, they're doing it backwards... LOL. MS... I really hope you succeed. Coz if you succeed. We succeed. Were making you filthy rich by sticking around. Show us you appreciate it.

True! My unlocked Lumia 930 doesn't have the option to change the default search engine on Internet Explorer. Don't need it though.

In Italy Bing sucks and no much support from MS. So I still have Google Engine set on my 1020 that works so much better here.

Overdue.

I used to use Google but after they pulled their Youtube app BS I started using Bing. I'm in Australia and it works fine. Its not as good as Google for image and video searching but I have a litlle bit of blind faith that MS will keep improving it.  

Google is better in Asia. I think it will affect customer satisfaction. This is not a good move. Be professional Microsoft.

i actually gave bing a try for at least a week... it's not that honed, tbh. so i switced back to google for my lumia. it sucks. i live outside US.
i don't think it'll do any good to WP. what's this microsoft?! is this one of those deliberate move to euthanize WP? prove us wrong...

Have a "Carrier Unlocked"  Lumia 930 in Norway. I have the poosibility to change Search provider

The thing that WP has over ios is price The thing that WP has over android is user experience The thing that they both have over WP is apps, but realistically, the app gap is quite small now

Good

What the hell? I could care less about google and totally see the value in Bing. But this is a bad move. For individuals who aren't entirely invested in the Microsoft new ecosystem already, as most aren't I can only imagine this turning them away faster... Sigh.. After I spent all this money too.

I use Bing alongside Google. I use IE powered by Google, Cortana powered by Bing.

-630 lol

There are a lot more searchengines arount........
Let people choose

If this is the way it goes in the future I'll have to say goodbye to WP because Bing is useless here in Europe.

I do not agree with you. Where do you live? Here in Sweden I have no issues. Google's only a bit better on image searches.

Finland

+1

We don't even have Bing Rewards in Canada.

My internet tile is a Google shortcut, as I nearly always Google something when I want to use the internet, so I won't even notice this change.

Depends on what I'm looking for. Sometimes what you can't find in Google can be found in Bing, vice versa.

With Bing Rewards working with mobile devices now I see no reason to use Google. Getting extra storage and store credits kicks butt

I still want the option to choose.

I simply never use Google. I dislike how people always say "google it." it feels like they force you to use Google to search for things. That's probably why I use WP as well. Totally my personal opinion..

The word 'search' got replaced by 'google', maybe MS wants to change that...

When people tell me to google it, I always reply that I'll BING it. And when I ask someone else, I just say search.

If you live in the USA, Bing blings.

If MS is doing this so they firstly need to provide Bing features worldwide then it can make sense -_-

Bing for everything except image searches. Google has some better features in that department. But other than that, the only thing I miss is Bing Rewards here in Sweden. Bing rules big time! Btw, the Bing web UI on PC isn't good looking IMHO. I know people like it, but nah, there's something about it I don't like. Just can't get a grip on it, so I almost search exclusively on my 1520.

My iPhone loving nephew said once, "Bing sucks."  I said, "You know Siri uses Bing don't you?" *crickets* :)

Haha that's awesome! People generally doesn't know that xD

Lol......

This sucks man, I want freedom of choice. In singapore I think google gives better search results than bing. Bing often comes up with things that are not what I m looking for and my desired result is usually near the end of center. Granted that this is subjective but as a consumer I want freedom of chouce

well just use Google from the IE browser or pin the website to the start screen

Man, given the state how Bing performs outside USA, this is a traffic thing.

Who cares, Bing works just fine and you don't see google giving option to switch to Bing right?

You can make Bing the default search engine in Chrome for Android, I just checked.

People still use Google?!?

Most people outside of Uncle Sam's territory yes. Bing is rubbish in the UK. You have to put "uk" at the end of every search to get anything decent, even on bing.co.uk

This!!
Drives me insane

Well, I can't wait for the lawsuit. They were finned once over this, I hope they are again. As for me, it may be the final nail in the coffin. When the Z3Compact launches, I think I'm switching even if Sony only puts 16GB on their phones. I use the search engine a lot and Bing in Europe is worse than a piece of sh*t.

I for one am shocked.

Check out the LG G3, I would dribble over it if it was Windows Phone.

I would if it wasn't so damn big. I don't like big phones, hence the Z3 Compact and not the Z3 ;)

I'm glad to hear Google search being locked out.  I hate Google.  I wish it would evaporate as a company.

Well they're making computer contact lenses and self-driving cars now.

Other than the silly results of Bing,if you open Bing.com from your browser,it redirects to Cortana,or the search button,and when you open a result from Cortana it redirects you to IE!!!! WTF!,THATs why I use google on is and when ever I want Bing I go to Cortana,please don't do that;

So it is ie then Cortana then i.e again,and if you want to search you go back to Cortana......

They, and us, have to accept that there are not only "one" company that's better in everything than others. I prefer Microsoft services such as Onedrive, Skype, Office, Windows Phone... But I prefere Google on others services such as Mail, Search, Maps, etc. For me, Google Search still is much better than Bing, and it's my search provider on IE. Even if sometimes I use Bing on Cortana. I don't care if Google is mean and don't allow us to have Youtube and others app, Google Search is still better and I think it's a pitty that they will not allow us to put is a default provider.  Anyway, we can always put www.google.com in our favorites or use Google Search application.

Lumia 930, Russia, carier-unlocked. Still can choose between Yandex, Google and Bing

Read the article "Update: It has been confirmed that some new European, carrier-locked Lumia 930/630 handsets still retain the setting."

Well, read my message. Mine is carier-unlocked

So what's the point if MS is making Android powered phones (Nokia X, Lumia X)??

Huh? What does that have to do with this?

The point is Android is Google's product. And this article is about MS removing Google from search engine. But no matter how Nokia X is coded it's still Android (Google) so MS supports it there but removes from its own product WP

They will be Android-code based. Similar to Amazon's Kindle Fire HD. Not pure Android, but based on it.

This is good! Microsoft is finally fighting back. Bing it on!

While I do use Bing as my default search engine, removing choice is TERRIBLE. Even Android allows you to set your default search engine -- I have it set to Bing on my HTC One (in browser). Make Bing the default, but at least leave the option there.

There was an OS update for the Lumia 630 just days ago. Maybe that's the difference here? Google still an option on my unlocked 630.

I'm about as pro-Bing as anyone can be but I hope this doesn't prove to be true. The option should be there. Make the Bing experience on WP so much better than Google that no one would CHOOSE Google. I mean, no Bing, no Cortana. No brainer. But a choice must be present.

choice is present, use the IE browser and go to google.com and pin it, once you use Microsoft Device you gotta use Bing as it powers their services ,you don't see IE on any of the Chromebooks do you

I use bing.. But still this is just a bad news.

I just got my new Lumia 930 today and i am able to change the search engine to google.

If you read the article, the 630 and 930 still allow it. It's better not to comment straight from the title.

I think you should read the article. It has been updated about carrier locked EU variants of 630/930 allowing it, but in reality many of us are reporting unlocked non-carrier variants 630/930 still having the Google option. My unlocked Lumia 930 has the Google option. In short, the article is wrong to extrapolate this affecting as many phones as it implies. As is The Verge source wrong as well. Clearly many regions and unlocked/locked/whatnot still having the option.  

I use Bing. I think that it is because of Cortana, I think she works with Bing or something

Yes, she does.

I think that if Microsoft's going to use only Bing on their devices, they should make its indexing better.

Hell it's about time, i like this move by Microsoft, if you want to use google , navigate to their website or pin the website to start screen, but to have best functionality of search you'll have to use the Bing service which is provided by the phone,Google doesn't give a crap about anything Microsoft, just take look in Windows Store and try see how much Google apps are released by Google inc and you'll see what i talking about, haven't released an official youtube app as yet and making stupid excuses, developers gotta push hard and do it, not even google talk, google + , they only want their services & apps to run on their devices period.

Agreed.

Service which is a piece of shit outside the US. Perhaps it's indeed better that Microsoft starts releasing Android phones otherwise no one in their right mind will remain with WP if it continues in this pathetic direction.

Except probably 75% of WP Users who use Bing.

If that many used it, Microsoft wouldn't be trying to force Bing on WP users. It's probably more like 75% don't use it.

Cortana requires Bing. And Google requires a kick in the head. 3 years and no apps from Google.

The only true winner with this will always be Apple. 

wtf are you talking about, what the hell does Apple have to do with this

That's what I wanna know

Only because they purchased M4A and M4V media on iTunes which can't be converted or moved to other formats. They're stuck with their purchases as I was and I had to give it all up to become part of the MS world.

Apple, themselves, are taking big strides towards Bing in iOS 8. I wonder how long until they drop Google altogether at Apple.

Good.

I've been using Bing for about a year now. At first, it seemed to be about 95% as good but it has improved enough to be interchangable. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with the quality of the search results. It's still a boner move though. Microsoft will gain negligable market share with this move but they will receive terrible press for it, especiaslly since it belies their efforts to be a cloud-first, mobile-first, cross-platform provider. If they could make Bing the default provider on Android they may gain enough market share to weather the storm, but the bulk of the WP user base had to overcome salesperson resistance to buy the phones in the first place, so they are probably already happily using Bing. Who are they hoping to convert? As much as we all like to think of Microsoft as a cohesive company, there are still some Ballmer disciples who literally didn't get the memo. Whoever thought of this has no business being in a decision-making capacity. 

Really, people? Is it THAT HARD to pin Google.com to your start screen? Get over it, Cortana is designed to work only with Bing.

Yeah of google doesn't give us all their apps fuck them. Those guys are selfish. We are One Microsoft

I don't care... been using Bing for like 3 years now and got everything I need. Don't need Google anymore :P Posted via Windows Phone Central App

So Microsoft is preventing people from being stupid? Good guy Microsoft!

This setting doesn't exist on my (not new) HTC 8X either. I'm not sure it ever has been there -- or did it only disappear when I installed the 8.1 preview?

HTC and Samsung never had this option, only Lumias did

Well fuck google if someone wants to use google he can use the "web" option suck on that google

I live in Brazil. For some reason Google started prompting me a captcha every fucking time I tried to search. Since then I moved to Bing and I don't have anything to regret.

F*** Google, Bing is 100x better in the US. Google wants to destroy the YouTube app for WP? Well get f***ed now Google because we're tired of your s***.

Frankly, I was able to find through Bing what I couldn't find when searching on Google. I set Bing as my default search engine and home page, but that doesn't mean I don't refer back to Google when I can't find convincing results on Bing.

Unlocked Country Variant (India) 630 Dual Sim here. Able to change the default search provider between Bing/Google.

I can still make the change through IE Settings > Advance > Search Default. -Lumia 630

BING is good in USA.. Bing rewards, bing search etc working great... But in EU, thats another story... So if MS wants to block Google, and WP will be BING only, why not working with all features in EU ? I mean, bing rewars - great feature, but US only. So block in US only not in EU where Bing is totally (i mean totally) unusable. And i tried that for week, using only bing ( on PC, on phone) but i must revert back to google (even i dont like it) because i cant find half things, with google ok.

I think this is a good move.  I think its showing "balls".  Many people will disagree but hey its one way of letting users use Bing.  It maybe good or bad but time will only tell.  Anyway you can always pin Google if you want to.

I like tech and Microsoft but bing needs is not as good as google search engine...i still use chrome on my pc though I use bing on my tablet,bing is good but not as good...

Wow... this is just pure BS. Bing is USELESS outside of US! it seems they want another fine from the EU. It's only a matter of time before they get in trouble for this nonsence.

Bing does get frustrating in the UK sometimes. Even on bing.co.uk it gives you USA results whereas on Google you get UK customized stuff. I don't like google but my searching motto is "if you REALLY need an answer, use google".

I understand why MS would do that... But its a mistake. Consumers are going toward customization. If MS wants to play hardball they need to cut all of their services from Android. Note that I do not think that this is the smartest decision.

My Samsung Ativ S never had the option to choose the search engine. MS forced us to pin google.com to start menu, put google on favorites or use the google search app. Lame

If you rely on Google services, you should not use a Windows Phone. Go buy an Android and be done with it.

We don't have a choice. Bing is S*IT in Europe.

So true. I relied on Google when I switched from Apple to Nokia. I simply switched everything over to MS services. I like the contacts, the calender and the emails better.

Hate my self for Buying lumia 8.1 was happy with android, on windows phone 8.1 no option to attach MP3 file on whatsapp and no calling option on FB messenger, but on android and iOS its possible, why windows is doing this to us

Sharing MP3 is illegal. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason to buy an android is so you can root it up download everything for free.

Eeeem... lol. mp3 is just a file format. It's the content that matters and it ISN'T ALWAYS COPYRIGHTED. And his complaint is valid. WP7-8 was a very pathetic and closed system, only with 8.1 are they finally starting to open up. It will probably become possible to share stuff now that it has a file picker and file saver.... eventually.... after a blillion years because MS prioritises competing paltforms now.

Lol come on mate that's like saying bittorrent is used for legal purposes.

What each person uses it for is their business. Peer-to-peer itself is NOT illegal and CAN be used for legal sharing. If it was only used for illegal stuff then I doubt that you could find torrent clients in Windows store and google Play Store. A lot of indie game developers and artists distribute their work that way. I personally downloaded Black Mesa (A fanmade HD remake of Half-Life 1) via torrent, that was provided by developers themselves. It is MUCH FASTER that way then downloading from some crappy free mirror sites.

Sharing copyrighted songs is illegal. Sharing something like a record of your own performance (as a keyboardist, I wish to do that all the time) or a voice recording for work purposes is legal. Don't justify technical omissions using blanket legal statements.

8X user here, never had the option for Google anyways,so it doesn't really affect me... (Only Bing and... Yahoo, which gets results from Bing)

My Lumia 930 (not locked to carrier) still have the Google option. Norway 

Time to become most evil. And force WP users to use half a** MS services.lol! This will definitely make WP users happy

I doubt that this story is true - I own a brand-new Lumia 930 (just purchased a week ago) which is not locked to any specific carrier. The option to switch between Bing and Google in IE exists (and works fine, too). OS revision is 8.10.12397.895 and firmware revision is 02061.00066.14252.51002.

The fact is: Bing does not work in Chile, Google does. Look for something in Chile using Bing and you get a standard search, like you did in the AltaVista era. Look for something in Google and you get results nicely page ranked. If you lock Windows Phones to use Bing only, and you don't implement the required functionality, you will shoot yourself in every market not supported by Bing.

Meh. Bing took all of the work from google, and called itself bing. So, bing is, as it should be, just as good as Google for searches, but with extra benefits Microsoft uses to entice users. I'm indifferent.

Not a problem, i never use Google.

That's such bs. This is worse than google forcing their vanilla android users to have that google bar on every widget page. At least Chrome on Android, IOS, and computers has an option to change the search engine...

I only use Google Search for images. For everything else, I use Bing and I get the same results as Google could give. I know, coz I have tried both before whenever I search for something. I like the picture in Bing website too.

Google is better than Bing :(

Not cool Microsoft... No one wants to use Bing other than few Microsoft fans. Please provide users option to choose.

Google search is better in Singapore. The search results are always more relevant.

I can not confirm this. I have less than a week old Lumia 930, completely carrier unlocked (EU), showing both Bing and Google options. Not a carrier variant!

Who in the hell wants anything google anyway. Anything google is completely avoided around my house.

Might not matter in the US but Bing is horrible outside. Bad move IMO. 
MSFT is very US oriented right now, even with the Xbox. 

In the Philippines.. There is still option for choosing default search in Lumia 630.. I can live with Bing search now.. I only use google for searching movies hahaha!! Lol.. Yah now! Ayay! Captain!!
Get it? Haha! I use Bing for real search.. Less distractions and its great.. I have accumulated points but so sorry for me.. I can't redeem those points just yet in some goodies through Bing Rewards..

Thx Microsoft, and duck off.

Instead of adding, they are removing!!!  

Not impacting to me, but this does suck for those that want flexibility. I guess if you want Google that bad, add it to favs or just go android.

Just used to the Bing Search button now!Never even think of google now it is way much easier than opening google and then searching!And Bing results are equal to google in here in India!

I havent used google since I was 11. Bing FTW

If Windows Phone wants to flourish. This is not the way Although Bing is just as good. Setting limits to what the average consumer already feels is a limited device, is not a good idea

They made a couple steps forward with IE11 and now they're making steps backward? Why remove choice? I personally find Google to much better fit my needs when it comes to search.   (and they should have never removed background audio in IE11... why remove it? Pisses me off. If I'm playing a song in the browser in IE11 and I try and open a new tab the music stops. If I hit the home button, music stops. WTF MS... dumbasses)

Bing is better than Google in my experience, I live in Canada

Sounds fair, Google doesn't want to release apps for WP, why would Microsoft want to use Google for WP phones

Google is still available for me. Live in Sweden, did not buy it through a carrier.

Bing outside of the USA is a piece of shit

Cortana will work more seamlessly with Bing anyway so what's the drama!!!

I have no problems with this. Google been unfair to WP.

Isn't this kind of illegal in Europe seeing as in windows 8.1 they had to force people to download with an update browser choice so people knew they had an option of provider :/    I like bing but it's pretty terrible in Ireland, it dosen't seem that good at location because the results are usually American, eg I search windows phone and it gives me windowsphone.com/us not windowsphone.com/ie   And yes all my settings are set to Ireland

I don't see many differences between Google and Bing in US, but Latinamerica, specifically El Salvador, here is just a web pages and images search engine.... this is bad...

Yeah, I think that Google Search a little better than Bing. In Indonesia region, for example: open www.bing.com, type buzz cctv, it will not show www.buzzcctv.com but if you open www.google.com and type buzz cctv, it will show www.buzzcctv.com Why does in Bing no www.buzzcctv.com? Why does in Google available www.buzzcctv.com, so the more that thing can show, people will use that thing too. Previously I am Lumia 520 user too, I frequently use Bing Search when use Internet Explorer, but the word that I would like the Bing shows sometimes can't be done by Bing. For me, I am OK if Microsoft disable Google option on their devices. Simple, if you like Google, YouTube, buy Android. If you like Bing, no lag, buy Windows Phone

   Makes sense as Cortana does get all of her information from Bing.