Microsoft Eyes Firefox Search Deal as Bing Chatbot Gains Sputter

In February, Microsoft’s Bing search engine launched a chatbot that gives humanlike answers to questions, a feature CEO Satya Nadella said would energize Bing and pressure web-search leader Google. But Bing has barely eked out any gains against Google in the past few months, new data show.

That reality may leave Bing with only one option to try to move the needle in search: Win deals to replace Google as the default search engine of a web browser such as Firefox or Apple’s Safari. Bing’s leaders have told colleagues that Microsoft wants to bid for the Firefox contract, which is set to expire this year, according to two people who have direct knowledge of the discussions.