Google for years has been aggressive in promoting its Chrome browser, saying that users will be able to experience better security, features, and performance. Now Microsoft is doing the same thing, taking advantage of its email service to encourage people to switch to its new Edge browser.
A promotional note across the top of the Outlook.com website reads: "Microsoft Edge + Outlook = Better together." Once you click the text, you will be redirected to the Edge download site, but the page doesn't exactly detail why it's better than all the other browsers. A slew of other ads has been observed as well, according to Windows Latest, which spotted some earlier this week.
The promotion is one way for tech giants to use their power in one domain to advertise their browsers. The Windows 10 start menu also has a prompt, encouraging people to switch to Edge, and though Apple allows third-party browsers on its iPhones and iPads, it requires them to build their software on Apple's own Safari browser technology foundation.
We're not sure how widespread Microsoft's Edge promotion is. The ads are all over Chrome, but not other browsers. Both Microsoft and Google did not comment on the matter. But it's pretty obvious that a lot of people trust Chrome, making up 63 percent of web activity in an analysis conducted by StatCounter.
Microsoft got rid of its Internet Explorer and replaced it with a more modern Edge years ago, but when that failed to catch on widely, Microsoft rebuilt Edge on top of Chromium, Google's open-source foundation for Chrome.
The importance of browsers for tech giants cannot be emphasized. Browsers are the platform that drives traffic to search engines that often share, resulting ad revenue with the browser. But when Chrome sends searches to Google or Edge sends them to Bing, the browser makers don't have to share revenue with another company.
Edge was introduced in 2015 as part of Microsoft's modernization effort. The software giant couldn't keep the browser compatible with enough websites, however, and customers started dumping it.
The new version of Edge marks a fundamental change in the browser: a shift to Chromium, Google's open-source foundation for the Chrome browser. Using Chromium resolves those compatibility problems. The new version of the browser has a different logo -- a circular crashing wave tinted blue, green, and aqua that's reminiscent of the old blue IE "e" icon.
The new version of Edge is available for download now. Microsoft plans to distribute it widely through Windows Update later this spring.
