Bada-Bing, did Verizon cash in on a deal with Microsoft for 'Berry searches?

BlackBerry users on Verizon used to be able to choose between Google and Bing as the search engine of choice on their device. But it looks like Big Red and the gang at Redmond entered into some kind of agreement that now allows only Bing to be the search engine of choice on Verizon branded BlackBerry phones. That doesn't prevent someone from typing in the Google URL on the 'Berry browser, but it does mean that when configuring your browser, you cannot choose BlackBerry or Wikipedia like you used to be able to. Sure, like we said, you can still punch in the URL and get to where you want to go to, but it will take some extra steps whereas previously you used to be able to just make one click to get to Google or Wikipedia. Of course, you wouldn't expect this to be the case with the DROID or DROID ERIS as both of those Android devices use Google's open source OS. But for BlackBerry users on Verizon, looks like you've been sold for some pieces of silver.

source: BGR