Just a silly rant at Microsoft

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Kookoo

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#282701 6-Mar-2021 22:32

I don't usually use MS Edge or any other MS software when I can avoid it. I can't avoid Windows, but that's a separate story. So here I am, adding a new user account to my PC. Fire up Edge because nothing else is installed yet, and I want to head to the MS account dashboard. Because I'm lazy, I type in "microsoft" in Bing. This was the page I got:

It took me a minute to realise that unlike Google, Bing marks its ads with just a tiny "Ad" label, and the first real result was actually Microsoft Corp NZ. Awesome, let's click on that. This is what you get:

Just how confused is a company that in its own browser, in its own search engine, in the first search result for its own name, it takes you to a 404 on its own website.

Hello, Ground!

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#2669285 7-Mar-2021 07:32

Works fine for me

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KiwiSurfer

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#2669286 7-Mar-2021 07:43

Fails for me as well.

Try it yourself, no bing search or Edge required.

https://www.microsoft.com/nz/

andrewNZ

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#2669289 7-Mar-2021 08:11

Edge is good, Bing is a disgrace.

Rikkitic

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#2669300 7-Mar-2021 09:14

I have been upgrading a Win 10 system and have run into all kinds of this silliness. Fortunately it is not difficult to completely cut Bing out of the system. As usual, that requires an unofficial hack.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Kookoo

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#2669359 7-Mar-2021 10:04

blackjack17:
Works fine for me

Nah, that's the second result. Try the first one - http://www.microsoft.com/nz/

Hello, Ground!

jamesrt

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#2669369 7-Mar-2021 10:26

In case anyone wants to know, the actual working URL is https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/

freitasm

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#2669433 7-Mar-2021 12:57

If you just go to www.microsoft.com it should automatically redirect to https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz.

Note that for @blackjack17 it actually goes to https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb as Language and Region settings on his computer are probably set to English(UK).

As for the ad going to "en" instead of "en-nz" you should realise a lot of those ads are managed by external advertising agencies, not directly by Microsoft... I'd not lay the blame directly on them (although they should really check they are getting the services they're paying for - in this case the URL should really go to the right place).

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Rikkitic

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#2669440 7-Mar-2021 13:20

freitasm:

As for the ad going to "en" instead of "en-nz" you should realise a lot of those ads are managed by external advertising agencies, not directly by Microsoft... I'd not lay the blame directly on them (although they should really check they are getting the services they're paying for - in this case the URL should really go to the right place).

I see an awful lot of that kind of thing and I sometimes wonder if advertisers even bother checking their ads. You would think so if they are paying for them, but that doesn't always seem to be the case.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Kookoo

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#2669444 7-Mar-2021 13:35

freitasm:
If you just go to www.microsoft.com it should automatically redirect to https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz.

Note that for @blackjack17 it actually goes to https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb as Language and Region settings on his computer are probably set to English(UK).

As for the ad going to "en" instead of "en-nz" you should realise a lot of those ads are managed by external advertising agencies, not directly by Microsoft... I'd not lay the blame directly on them (although they should really check they are getting the services they're paying for - in this case the URL should really go to the right place).

1) The Microsoft link isn't an ad - it's just the first organic search result.

2) Ad agencies don't make up links. They use links supplied by the customer.

Hello, Ground!

freitasm

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#2669445 7-Mar-2021 13:37

1. Right you are, sorry.
2. Not always.

KiwiSurfer

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#2669507 7-Mar-2021 15:17

I wonder if Bing has hard-coded it so that it always returns that result as #1 for 'microsoft'. So possibly not organic and possibly not ad agencies...

ANglEAUT

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#2669536 7-Mar-2021 16:55

freitasm: ... - in this case the URL should really go to the right place).

Even then, how difficult is it to review web server logs for 404 errors & get a process in to fix those? Could be as easy as putting in a redirect or actually contacting the advertiser to resolve the issue at the source? 40+ years as a global corp & they still have so many basic issues with their systems?

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

1101

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#2669820 8-Mar-2021 09:02

andrewNZ: Edge is good, Bing is a disgrace.

This. Bing is a disgrace. Thats why on new PC's , the first thing I do is install chrome & make it the default

Bing : When I searched trying to find vendors to BUY a particular software from, the first 5 search results were pages to pirate it from .
Its garbage . Allways was .

freitasm

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#2669826 8-Mar-2021 09:17

1101:

andrewNZ: Edge is good, Bing is a disgrace.

This. Bing is a disgrace. Thats why on new PC's , the first thing I do is install chrome & make it the default

Give Edge a go. You will be surprised.

Inphinity

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#2669832 8-Mar-2021 09:27

freitasm:

Give Edge a go. You will be surprised.

Edge is surprisingly good, as long as you change the default search engine to not be Bing ;)

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