14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will no longer bundle a Google Chrome extension with its Office 365 ProPlus installer, the company announced, allowing businesses to continue to use the existing search engine in the browser.
Originally, Microsoft revealed last month that the Office 365 installer for ProPlus subscribers would include a so-called Microsoft Search Chrome Extension that automatically change the default search engine in the browser to Bing. But following public backlash, Microsoft says it’s giving up on this idea, so the search extension would no longer launch this month in first wave of countries supposed to get it, including the United States, the UK, Australia, and Canada.
“We’ve also heard concerns about the way we were planning to roll this value out. Most importantly, we heard that customers don't want Office 365 ProPlus to change search defaults without an opt-in, and they need a way to govern these changes on unmanaged devices,” the Office 365 team says in an announcement today.
Microsoft 365 toggle
Administrators will still be able to install the new extension through Office 365 ProPlus thanks to a new toggle in the Microsoft 365 admin center, Microsoft promises.
“Due to these changes, the Microsoft Search in Bing extension will not ship with Version 2002 of Office 365 ProPlus. We will provide an updated timeline for this rollout over the next few weeks,” the company adds.
Blocking the installation of the Chrome extension was still possible for IT admins, even without the change that Microsoft announced today. The group policy allowed them to avoid deploying the extension, while users could simply remove it from Chrome just like any other browser add-on, technically being able to go back from Bing to Google.
Microsoft says it “will continue to provide end users who receive the extension with control over their search engine preference,” which means that an option to disable Bing being forced in the browser will also be offered.