It’s not a secret anymore that Microsoft bought Skype to the tune of $8.5 billion last year. In the deal, Microsoft pledged to keep Skype available across all devices and retain it as the communication vehicle of choice for people across multiple platforms. As part of that deal though, it was also mentioned that Skype would be integrated across all of Microsoft’s products. Bing is the latest to get Skype-ified.
The Bing Team announced today that Skype will begin peddling the Bing Bar to users of the software. All new installations of Skype will ask users if they want to install the Bing Bar for Internet Explorer 7 or higher. Current installations of Skype will also suggest that you download the Bing Bar.
As part of this mutually beneficial relationship, members of the Bing Rewards program can get up to 60 minutes of call time on Skype for only 100 Bing Rewards credits. That’s an absurdly low amount of Bing Rewards credits for a prize that would normally cost you about 2 cents a minute.
Remember, this is an exclusive Skype and Bing relationship. If you want to get free Skype call time, you have to use Internet Explorer. Microsoft owns Skype now and they are going to leverage this acquisition to their advantage. If you already are an IE and Bing Rewards user, you can start taking advantage of the offer now. If the allure of free Skype credit is too much to resist, better get used to seeing this:
