Microsoft updated Bing Wallpaper with a new update that changes the behavior of clickings on empty spots on your desktop. Now instead of no action being triggered, clicking an empty spot on your desktop will redirect you to Bing.com instead. This is significant because it requires a visit to the search engine at every opportunity when nothing is happening, disabling any possibility of avoiding this behavior. The updated behavior was observed when checking the current implementation of the app.
Microsoft eliminates the opt-out for desktop click redirection in the latest update
Bing Wallpaper app is a windows app that cycles through the images hosted by Bing as your desktop background. The latest update of the app eliminates the option to disable the redirection of the empty spot clicks. Previously there was a toggle to turn off the empty spot click redirection.
Microsoft now applies a maximum of one click redirection per 24 hours for each activation. So you will not be able to repeatedly click to avoid the redirection popup.
The app however, does not just redirect but also actively promotes setting Bing as your default search engine. This is done for all installed browsers on the system. This kind of behavior is very similar to how Microsoft promoted their search service in other Windows components in the past. There is no way to disable any of these promotions or the redirection mechanism from within the app.
Our coverage of the previous update of Bing Wallpaper had similar themes of balance and stability around Microsoft software approach. The previous update was also about further integration of Bing into the user experience. Now the integration has been pushed to the desktop interaction level. With current trends we expect similar functionality to be added to Windows Spotlight in the future as well.
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