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.

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.

Searching for “Google” on Microsoft Bing right now (when logged out) brings up a search experience that looks a lot like Google, with a graphic akin to one of the search giant’s signature Doodles, but is actually still Microsoft Bing.

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.

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.

Bing is using a clever new trick to convince users into thinking that they're using Google by changing the look of the site.

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 reportedly using deceptive tactics to grow its market share against Google in the search landscape by making Bing look like Google.

Using Bing, Microsoft's own search engine that challenges Google's monopoly, is something the company would really, really, really like you