Advertisement

Bing's kid-friendly search is now available to every grade school in the US

Your kid's in-school web searches may soon be much safer and smarter: Microsoft has just expanded availability of its Bing school program (now Bing in the Classroom) to all K-12 institutions in the US. The move lets any school fill out a form to remove ads, get daily lesson plans and keep adult content filters switched on. As part of the launch, Microsoft is also making it easier for parents to both check if a school is using Bing and see how close it is toward earning free Surface tablets through search credits.

The expansion should give Microsoft a strong foothold in the classroom. The just-ended pilot project is already providing search to more than 5,000 schools, and there isn't any major competition. Google offers school-ready versions of both its web apps and Google Play, but it doesn't do the same for search -- Microsoft may end up being the de facto choice for your kid's internet searches simply because it's the only obvious choice.