So, an application on the system tells the default browser on the system to open a link, the browser sees that the request is to a search engine and then strips out the search term and then feeds it to a different search engine that pays it for doing that.
Well, Yahoo pays them to be the default, but you aren't tied to it. Its redirected to whatever search engine you choose, rather than it always being sent to Bing.
I also may not understand. What I read out of it is that Cortana sends a Bing search request to your default search engine (Firefox or otherwise) and Firefox turns it into a search request to its current default search engine. The existence of a Chrome plugin for doing the same indicates that until this change, Cortana searches would go to Bing no matter what.
This has nothing to do with searches made from within Firefox. This is Firefox intercepting searches made from Cortana and sending them to your chosen search engine. Cortana uses Bing and there's no way to change it. I disabled the Cortana search bar for this reason, since I don't want to use Bing.
No, Cortana just uses Bing for search. They're not intercepting anything, just not letting you change Cortana's search engine. They're not doing anything to searches made from other apps.
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So, an application on the system tells the default browser on the system to open a link, the browser sees that the request is to a search engine and then strips out the search term and then feeds it to a different search engine that pays it for doing that.
Am I getting this right?
Well, Yahoo pays them to be the default, but you aren't tied to it. Its redirected to whatever search engine you choose, rather than it always being sent to Bing.
I don't understand, Cortana does not redirect Firefox searches to Bing. It doesn't touch them at all.
I also may not understand. What I read out of it is that Cortana sends a Bing search request to your default search engine (Firefox or otherwise) and Firefox turns it into a search request to its current default search engine. The existence of a Chrome plugin for doing the same indicates that until this change, Cortana searches would go to Bing no matter what.
What if I want my Firefox searches to go to Yahoo, but I am okay with my Cortana searches going to Bing?
This has nothing to do with searches made from within Firefox. This is Firefox intercepting searches made from Cortana and sending them to your chosen search engine. Cortana uses Bing and there's no way to change it. I disabled the Cortana search bar for this reason, since I don't want to use Bing.
Yeah, even though I prefer this behavior, enabling it by default feels like an overstep to me. It could easily be handled by an extension.
It looks like Microsoft was the one intercepting searches, this just fixes the problem.
No, Cortana just uses Bing for search. They're not intercepting anything, just not letting you change Cortana's search engine. They're not doing anything to searches made from other apps.
I don't get it. How?
It uses your default search engine rather than having Bing forced on you.
Um. Isn't Yahoo powered by Bing anyway?
It uses whatever your Firefox search engine is set to, which is Yahoo by default. If you've set Firefox to use Google, it'll redirect you to Google.
Yahoo search is powered by Bing.