Microsoft is promising to donate 5p to charity for every 10 searches made using its Bing search engine – as long as the user is running Internet Explorer.
The software giant’s Give With Bing campaign is in aid of Sport Relief, the annual charity event. However, critics might argue that Microsoft’s generous gesture also benefits the company itself, given that searches made via rival browsers or from Mac computers don’t count towards the charity tally.
Visitors who arrive at the site using a rival browser are informed:
“This is only available for Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 running on Windows XP (Service Pack 2 and later), Vista, or Windows 7. Download the latest version of Internet Explorer.”
Give With Bing requires users to download an Internet Explorer add-in that keeps count of the number of searches made. It also cheekily attempts to install Bing as the default search engine and homepage, using pre-ticked boxes during the installation process.
The latest figures from Net Applications reveal that Internet Explorer continues to cede market share to rival browsers, such as Google Chrome.
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