AfterDawn: News

Verizon pushes Bing application on BlackBerrys

In the past week, Verizon Wireless has been pushing a Bing search engine application onto BlackBerry phones, without the owners consent.

Microsoft and Verizon signed a $500 million USD pact last year, in which the wireless carrier agreed to make Bing the default search engine for the browser in most of its phones. BlackBerry owners had always had the chance to select their own default search engine, however.



Many BlackBerry users now have a Bing icon on their phones, which is a link to install the app, although it cannot be deleted, only hidden. Worst of all, it was added without consent of the user.

Verizon has posted information on how to hide the icon after many complained but added: "We think Verizon Wireless BlackBerry users will love Bing, but we are passionate about customer choice."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Jan 2010 1:41

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• 5 comments

• RonBoyd01

  Is there a link to this Verizon information? (I can't seem to find it.)

  4.1.2010 11:35 #1

• NINVIN21

  Bing is Getting Known for Pushing there engine.
  There a bunch of Search engine Pushers.

  5.1.2010 04:06 #2

• riprat

  I have the Bing icon but I hid it. I dont like Bing and refuse to use it. Many Blackberry users have also complained that their browser only shows the Bing search and not the usual Google, Live Search, Wikipedia and Dictionary searches. Thankfully mine has not changed.

  5.1.2010 12:37 #3

• NINVIN21

  Live search turned into bing,Because I had live search and one day my home screen turned into bing that's how I found out about bing.
  Microsoft/Bing and Yahoo made a 10-year deal in which the Yahoo! search engine would be replaced by Bing.But yahoo is still there so I don't know.They will never beat Google you can't.

  5.1.2010 19:04 #4

• cyprusrom

  Bing! used to be MSN Search->Windows Live Search->Live Search. There's no more Live Search, that's why your icon was replaced if that was your default search engine.
  
  The deal was made by Microsoft and Yahoo, but not to be "replaced" by Microsoft, but instead use their engine. So basically you use Bing! but with an Yahoo! interface.
  

  
  Piss me off, and I Will ignore You!

  5.1.2010 19:46 #5