Microsoft Removes Google Search from Internet Explorer - Fixed

Last week I screwed up my Windows configuration on my laptop so badly I had to do a factory reset and reinstall everything from scratch. You'd think I would learn. Thanks very much to Steve Walker from SOS Support Operating Systems for rescuing all the critical data from my hard drive and saving me from losing over a week's worth of data that I hadn't backed up recently.
One thing I learnt in the process of doing the restore is that Microsoft no longer offers a Search add-in for Google. Only Bing and Yahoo search. I called their support line and had a weirdly bizzare conversation with someone who told me that if I want to use Google's search I need to install Google Chrome. Seriously?
Now I understand what the "99% Blocked" icon is all about: Microsoft blocks you from using the search tool that 99% of its users want to use. Anti-trust, anyone?
Update Saturday 20th June 2015: Thanks to Steven Quick for pointing out that the Google Search add-in is back. Thank goodness.