Microsoft’s Aggressive Promotion of Edge Browser and Its Market Impact

According to Statcounter data, Google Chrome still dominates the global browser market with a 68.38% share, followed by Apple Safari at 17.09% and Microsoft Edge at 4.92% on desktop. On mobile, Chrome and Safari dominate, while Edge’s desktop share reaches 13.2%.

Microsoft aggressively promotes Edge during the Windows 11 OOBE (Out‑of‑Box Experience), pre‑installing Edge, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, and repeatedly prompting users to set Edge as the default browser.

Recent observations show Bing search results for "Chrome" displaying a large banner advertising the "new Microsoft Edge" and even hiding Chrome download links, offering a "See More" button that obscures the actual Chrome download.

Similar tactics have appeared before, with users encountering full‑screen Edge, Bing, and Copilot pop‑ups while using Chrome.

In the international Bing version, searching for "Google.com" shows a large image resembling Google’s design, potentially misleading users into thinking they are still on Google.

The article suggests further intrusive measures, such as prompting users with messages like "Would you like to try Edge?" and offering a prominent "Download Edge" button while relegating a "Reject" option to a less visible spot.

Chrome’s security lead, Parisa Tabriz, has criticized these practices, but similar tactics are also employed by Chrome against competitors, such as throttling YouTube performance in rival browsers.

Overall, the piece argues that despite being considered aggressive or even "rogue," Microsoft’s Edge promotion strategies have effectively increased its market share.