For years, Internet browsers have tried to become the favorite child (default browser) on computers as well as mobile phones. Google is known to place pop-ups on its services that suggest using Google Chrome for better performance and Microsoft has been doing the same for its Edge browser on select websites.
Microsoft is at it again on its email service to try and get people to switch to its newly revamped Edge browser. Using Outlook on a browser other than Edge now shows a prompt at the top that says “Browse smarter with the new Microsoft Edge. Let’s go”.
Clicking on the pop-up redirects to the Microsoft Edge download website and there are also links to download the new Edge Chromium browser for those who prefer a Chrome-like experience. Additionally, it also says how Edge is smarter and offers faster and better performance with built-in tools and more.
It is unclear how widespread this promotion campaign is as it was only spotted on Google Chrome but not other browsers, for now at least. Microsoft hasn’t commented on the matter yet.
Microsoft has also been promoting the new Edge within Windows 10 itself via the start menu. People have reported seeing ads in their search bar and app list telling them to switch from their default browser.
As of now, Google Chrome dominates internet browser usage with a massive chunk of the market, around 60%. Microsoft tried to take on Chrome by revamping its Internet Explorer browser into Microsoft Edge, and when Google started adding Chromium specific features to Youtube, Microsoft was forced to switch to Chromium as well.
