Amazing that this thread holds Google and Microsoft to different standards. Google Now uses Google&#x27;s search engine, no opt-out. Cortana now uses Bing&#x27;s search engine, no opt-out. You can easily have your browser search hijacked by an extension in the browser (on desktops this is easy, on phone OS&#x27;s not so easy.) So you use Cortana, then you get the search result and suddenly you are on a shady search provider, you get a virus and you blame it on Microsoft.<p>Sure, I think Microsoft should offer a solution to this that isn&#x27;t so hamfisted; or is hamfisted but has an opt-out for power users (maybe that requires elevated permissions), but let&#x27;s not pretend that search hijacking isn&#x27;t commonplace. Most Windows users are not HackerNews readers or power users.