Microsoft is trying hard to keep Chrome users in Edge

Microsoft sees its browser as an important aspect and entry point for the new Bing. Microsoft Edge on Windows now displays a rather aggressive ad on the Chrome download page to discourage people from switching.

After downloading Chrome, Microsoft Edge (Canary) for today’s Windows users (via Newen) You notice the “Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with added trust from Microsoft” message.

The banner appears below the address bar, and crucially appears to be part of google.com/chrome. There is also a small ad when the Chrome page initially loads, as many found this ad entry to be terrible.

This is a major override by Microsoft imo

They inject ads *into the Google Chrome download page* and push their browser 🫠

This shouldn’t be fine pic.twitter.com/QNc3i2sKnz

– Chris Frantz (@frantzfries) February 21, 2023

This behavior appears to be limited to Windows (we couldn’t replicate it on Edge for Mac), and is currently only in the Edge preview channel. It’s possible that the current backlash will mean that Microsoft won’t release it to stable.

For its part, Google is also trying to get people to use Chrome, but it is not aggressive. If you open Google Search in Safari for Mac, you’ll see a popup in the corner that says “Google recommends Chrome.” The main difference is that this advertisement takes place on a website owned by Google.