Now, here is the thing, what most people don’t know is that when you do a search in Windows 8.1 (or Windows RT 8.1), you are searching “Everywhere”, your hard drive, SkyDrive, settings, and web results. And because Bing Smart Search is enabled by default, every term you type gets collected and uploaded to Bing’s servers, which later can be used to display targeted ads. — It’s worth noting that if you change the Windows 8.1 Search settings from Everywhere to Settings or Files; those terms won’t be sent to Bing. The way I see it, this is like what Google does with Gmail, scanning the content of every email you send or receive to target relevant ads. Microsoft is practically doing something similar with Windows 8.1 by tracking your searches to learn what products and goods are more relevant for you. I’m not against ads, but they could become annoying for users and it could potentially affect user experience on a bigger scale. For example, the new Hero advertisement can pop up when your real intention is to look for tax records, photos of your car or a home project in your computer. Fortunately, there is a way to stop Microsoft for targeting you with ads and it simply involves giving up the web search experience in Windows 8.1 — No such a big deal, as most of us use a web browser to do online searches, right? Follow these steps:
Instructions
- Go to PC settings.
- Click or tap on Search and apps.
- Under Use Bing to search online, turn off the Get search suggestion and web results from Bing option.
Stopping targeted ads
What about if you want to keep getting web results from Bing in Windows 8.1, but without being target with Microsoft ads? If this is the case, from the “Search and apps” settings, you can click the “Manage my Microsoft advertising and other personalization info” link. This is a buried privacy option that not too many people know about and it allows you to do three things: you can choose if you want to have personalized ads from Microsoft and from other companies, and you can also get to “Your data dashboard”, that let you control different settings about your privacy, very similar to Google Dashboard. Once signed it with your Microsoft account, you can disable personalized ads in the web browser or when using your Microsoft account on any Windows device.
You can also navigate to “Your data dashboard”. This page shows your profile and how Microsoft is collecting data from you. MY DATA tab is where things get interesting, there you can manage your interests, brands, newsletter, and in Bing searches you’ll find all the terms the software giant has collected from you, and from here you can also delete them one-by-one or all at once with the “Clear all” option.
Keep in mind that disabling all the advertising options from your Microsoft data dashboard doesn’t necessarily means that you won’t be seeing ads in Bing Smart Search results or opted out from the new Hero ads. This only stops Microsoft from targeting ads based on your searches. All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.
