Microsoft Bing is tricking unsuspecting users searching for Google by displaying a webpage that looks like Google Search.

This type of strategy is sometimes called a “dark pattern,” or a deceptive pattern that tricks users into doing something they did not intend. Below the Google-looking search bar, including a Google Doodle-esque cartoon, regular Bing results are displayed.

Windows Latest first spotted the situation, describing it as a “genius move to keep you from Google search.” It’s part of a larger pattern by Microsoft to get Google users to switch to Edge and Bing, taking advantage of their positions as the default browser and search engine in Windows.

But if you use that search bar that appears below the doodle, your search results will still be funneled through Bing. Scrolling on the page with the spoofed Google bar reveals the actual Bing search results, however, which start with a link to the real Google search engine.

Microsoft Bing is displaying what is being categorized as a misleading Google-esque search page when users search for Google, making it look you are on the competing search engine.

To trigger the Google result, you must use Bing without logging into a Microsoft account. The Google result has a search bar, an image that looks suspiciously like a Google Doodle, and even some tiny text under the bar, creating a Google-like design.

In well over a decade of journalism, I've seen a fair amount of copied designs, but I've never seen anything as blatant as Bing's attempt to hoodwink people into believing they're using Google. Since time immemorial,

Microsoft is pulling yet another trick to get people to use its Bing search engine. If you use Bing right now without signing into a Microsoft account and search for Google, you’ll get a page that looks an awful lot like... Google.

Is imitation really the best form of flattery? In an effort to get more people to use Bing, Microsoft appears to be disguising its Bing searches as Google ones for any users seeking to ditch Microsoft's default for the world's most used search engine.

Microsoft Bing now shows a Google-like appearance when users search for "Google." This change happens when users search without signing into a Microsoft account. The new Bing interface looks similar to Google's homepage.