Microsoft Is Pushing People to Keep Using Edge When They Try to Download Chrome ⇥ neowin.net

Sayan Sen, Neowin:

In the latest related news, when someone is trying to download Google Chrome from Edge, Microsoft seems to be reminding such users with a popup (image below) that its own browser is built upon the same (Chromium) technology as Chrome, suggesting that there’s no need for a new browser.

So far it’s somewhat fine since there is no lie in that part. However, the prompt also appears to suggest that Edge itself is more secure than Chrome as part of the prompt says “with the added trust of Microsoft”.

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To be completely fair to Microsoft, Google also occasionally sends such pop-ups and prompts when using its search engine or other services. Here’s a classic one below. But at least Google allows the option to reject its advances. That’s not the case for Edge though.

I think this is subtly different from Google’s use of its homepage — the Times Square billboard of internet advertising — to promote its own products. This is a case of Microsoft using its own platform to steer users away from a competing product when it is likely they have navigated to that competitors’ page deliberately. What’s next? Maybe Microsoft could direct users to the Surface marketing site when they try to buy an iPad.