Microsoft will no longer force Bing by default for Office 365 ProPlus customers

What you need to know

• Microsoft will no longer force Bing as the default search engine for Office 365 ProPlus customers.
• Microsoft was going to forcibly install the Microsoft Search in Bing extension onto any system with Office 365 ProPlus that didn't already have Bing set as the default search engine.
• The change by Microsoft is in response to customer feedback.

Microsoft will no longer forcibly make Bing the default search engine in Chrome for Office 365 ProPlus customers. A techcommunity post from Microsoft announced the change. Microsoft states that people will have the choice to opt-in to have the Microsoft Search in Bing browser extension installed.

Microsoft was going to install the Microsoft Search Bing extension onto any system with Office 365 ProPlus that didn't already have Bing set as the default search engine. This would have effectively forced Bing onto Office 365 ProPlus customers. The move set off waves of backlash around the web, which caused Microsoft to change its plans. As a result of feedback from customers, Microsoft will make the following changes:

• The Microsoft Search in Bing browser extension will not be automatically deployed with Office 365 ProPlus.
• Through a new toggle in Microsoft 365 admin center, administrators will be able to opt in to deploy the browser extension to their organization through Office 365 ProPlus.
• In the near term, Office 365 ProPlus will only deploy the browser extension to AD-joined devices, even within organizations that have opted in. In the future we will add specific settings to govern the deployment of the extension to unmanaged devices.
• We will continue to provide end users who receive the extension with control over their search engine preference.

As a result of these changes, the Microsoft Search in Bing extension will not ship with Version 2002 of Office 365 ProPlus.