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Windows 10’s Cortana searches now use Bing and Edge exclusively
July 03, 2025
Search is big money. BIG money. Google’s entire electronic empire is based on revenue it earns from the world’s queries, and the Gapps and Google Play Services that belong to Android are coordinated into this scenario as well. It might come as no small surprise, therefore, that Microsoft is none too happy about all this. The company has set its new Edge browser as the default for Windows 10 and, at least initially, made it quite difficult for casual usersto “discover” how to change it.
Yesterdaya post was made on the company’s blogthat quicklypicked up some attention. The cause for concern was clear: Microsoft is now preventing its integrated search assistant Cortana from collaborating with rivals. This means that all contentprovided by Cortanawill be handled by the company’s own search engine, Bing, and all results will be displayed with its Edge browser. No other option possible.
Here is how the Microsoft’s Ryan Gavin, General Manager of Search and Cortana, explained it:
For reference, even Apple allows users to manually select the search engine to display results from Siri, thus Microsoft is definitely taking a firm stance here.
It should also be clarified, as Microsoft itself points out, “you can continue to use your search engine and browser of choice on Windows 10”. Just to be clear, the issue being addressed in this pieceonlypertains to searches performed by Cortana.
The Bing thing
Despite the general disgust one might expect from a Google-oriented crowd,a report by Comscorefrom last fall indicated that Bing is slowly but surely eating away at Mountain View’s search dominance. It was calculated that Google currently has roughly 64% of the market, and Microsoft just shy of 21%. Yahoo, for reference, comprised the remaining 12.5%.
While some might feel Microsoft is out of order in subjugating Cortana, it is important to remember a few things:
While Microsoft may be perfectly within its right to cut out the competition, it is likely to displease users who are less than thrilled with Bing-anything. As a result, this kind of “deep integration” may result in a significant decrease of Cortana-related searches. At the start of the year,SitePoint analyzed internet browser market shareand the results indicated Chrome has almost 54% at the end of 2015. Internet Explorer on the other hand –allvariants collectively – had about 15%.
Based on this data, it is quite clear why Microsoft is so intent on Bing integration: it wants more market share for its products which, in turn, translates to more revenue. The very fact that it hasreleased Cortana for its rival’s OSshould be evidence enough.
What do you think? Has Microsoft gone too far with this decision? Will this allow it to provide the best Windows 10 experience for customers? Drop a line down below!
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