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The long-running rivalry between Microsoft Corp and Google Inc is turning into a schoolyard brawl.
Microsoft on Wednesday opened a new front against the world's No 1 search provider by piloting an ad-free offering for educational users of Bing, its search engine that for years has trailed Google.
Under the free program called "Bing for Schools," students in participating school districts will no longer see ads or adult content when they do Internet searches.
Microsoft, which has signed up the Los Angeles Unified School District and Atlanta Public Schools among other school districts, has pitched Bing as an alternative at a time of rising public concern over how Internet companies are tracking their users' every move to target the ads they display.
As part of the program, Microsoft will also offer free Surface tablets and course materials for teaching youngsters about Internet use.
Stefan Weitz, Microsoft's director of search, said the program would help expose young users to Microsoft products.
"We hope that we demonstrate the quality of Bing to teachers and students and also their parents, and once they see how good it is, we hope to see increased usage outside of schools too," Weitz said.
Bing, with 18 per cent of the search market share, has long trailed Google, at 67 percent, according to data from ComScore, despite an aggressive effort to close the gap.
Microsoft offers ad-free Bing for the classroom to battle Google
