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Microsoft aggressively trying to keep Chrome downloaders using Edge

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

After downloading Chrome, Microsoft Edge (Canary) for Windows users today (via Neowin) noticed a “Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft” message.

The banner appears underneath the address bar and — critically — looks to be part of google.com/chrome. There’s also a tiny advert in the top-right corner (above the site and browser UI) when the Chrome page initially loads, with many finding this ad injection to be egregious.

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

Update: Some people (see comments below) are already encountering this prompt in the stable channel.

For its part, Google also tries to get people to use Chrome, but it’s not as aggressive. If you open Google Search in Safari for Mac, you’ll see a corner pop-up that says “Google recommends using Chrome.” The key diffidence is that this advertisement is occurring on a website Google owns. 

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com