Bing Recommends Piracy Tutorial When Searching For Office 2019 (zdnet.com)

aafrn writes: Microsoft is sending users who search for Office 2019 download links via its Bing search engine to a website that teaches them the basics about pirating the company's Office suite. This happens every time users search for the term "office 2019 download" on Bing. The result is a Bing search card (highlighted search results) that links to a piracy tutorial that teaches users how to install uTorrent, download a torrent file, and install an Office crack file. Fortunately, the torrent download links are down, but experts believe the link was used to spread malware.

Comments

It's not obvious how you get Office

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't come with any install media. Visiting the Office website, you get strung along through a bunch of pages trying to sell you Office 365 subscriptions. At the end of your rope, you then ask a search engine to find it and eventually you get in the back way (through the Microsoft Store, not the Microsoft Office official website). Working as intended.

Re:It's not obvious how you get Office

[dohzer]

At the end of your rope, you then ask a search engine to find it

You're only "at the end of your rope" once you've tried all the other search engines before being forced to use Bing.

Re:It's not obvious how you get Office

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep. Same is the problem when one buys a second hand machine which has been wiped. The machine has a sticker with the license number, but MS actively tries to make it hard to use. Likely they hope to sell the license again. Perhaps they should consider their strategy again, as once people find out the piracy way, their next office license number will not be made by MS.

uptime

[KiloByte]

As much as it sucks, I guess it still has better uptime than Office 359. But don't worry, Microsoft innovates, so that'll change too.

download LibreOffice running under Linux instead

[najajomo]

I don't know why this deserves a whole slashdot article and you didn't even provide links to the alternatives!

LibreOffice is a powerful office suite

Distrowatch | put the fun back into computing

Disingenuous

[Excelcia]

This isn't "Microsoft sending", this is Bing's algorithm categorizing that search result. This is not news. If I were to list all the "_________ download" searches that listed a torrent or instructions for how to find something for free as the first item, this would be a long post.

This is a non-story. Why am I even bothering to take the time t

But why stick to office at all?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are people sticking to office despite all the abuse?

I guess this is the same sort of question as why people insist on using windows when that doesn't work very well either, will randomly stop working as poorly as it did and just throw fits from updates, and insists on making you an ad-viewing beta-tester while at it.

Me, I use troff for writing letters, but there's plenty of clickibunti alternatives, free and paid, that people might try and even find better interoperability with other software at that. Because redmond isn't very compatible with itself, either. Sticking with them is, objectively speaking, a an expensive losing proposition.

Fortunately?

[hcs_$reboot]

Fortunately, the torrent download links are down

Slashdot has changed :-(

Could be worse

[Opportunist]

For all MS cares this is still better than Bing pointing to a page detailing how Libre/Open Office is superior.

Malware

[drinkypoo]

"experts believe the link was used to spread malware."

Nah, they were only distributing office, not windows 10.