Microsoft’s deceptive tactics
impede consumer choice
For years, Microsoft has manipulated desktop browser choice, using deceptive tactics to push Edge onto users. Instead of competing on quality, it relies on forced resets, misleading prompts, and hidden settings to trap people into using its browser. Every time Microsoft forces, pushes or tricks someone back to Edge, it’s violating that person’s control over their digital experience and their ability to navigate the internet on their own terms. This isn’t just about a browser; it’s about whether a consumer can make their own choices or Microsoft gets to decide for them.
Consumers deserve the freedom to choose.
Despite vocal frustrations, consumers are coerced into using a desktop browser they don’t want.
Desktop browsers are a key gateway to the internet.
Desktop browser choice directly impacts the overall online user experience for billions of people.
Microsoft’s behavior impacts the entire digital ecosystem.
Limiting competition stifles innovation and threatens the survival of many browser developers.
Using deceptive tactics, Microsoft deliberately engineered its operating system to make installing an alternative browser on Windows difficult. Although Microsoft’s practices vary over time and from one country to another, it commonly deploys these strategies to force Edge onto users against their will.
Interfering with downloads
When Windows users search for alternative browsers on the preinstalled Edge (such as “Vivaldi browser”), Bing displays a prominent promotional message discouraging them from switching. This can create unnecessary friction or hesitation for users, who may subsequently abandon their attempts to download a rival.
Displaying self-promotions
When a user attempts to download a competing browser, Microsoft displays a pop-up notification discouraging the download and emphasizing the trustworthiness of Edge. Even if the user chooses to continue with the download, Microsoft displays the self-serving promotion again with a bigger, full-width banner, partially blocking the competing browser’s content from view. This discourages users from exercising choice at critical stages of the user journey.
Deploying manipulative banner ads
Microsoft inserts banner ads on a competitor’s web store, blocking or obscuring the content of their page and prompting the user to navigate away from the site entirely.
Creating barriers to setting defaults
Through a series of dark patterns, Microsoft persistently creates obstacles to prevent or discourage consumers from setting their default browser to any of Edge’s competitors.
Manipulating default browser selection
Microsoft disabled the ability for users to set their desired browser as default from within the browser app, instead requiring users to wade through complicated settings. While users of other OSs can set a new default browser with a single click, it can take Microsoft users five times as long to do so manually via an overly granular and often confusing process.
Forcing manual adjustments
Even after setting a new default browser, Microsoft forces users to manually change additional settings for other related activities, including PDFs and links in Outlook and Teams, making it harder to switch away from Edge.
Defaulting back without warning
Windows automatically reinstalls and defaults back to Edge during some system updates, undoing previous preference selections without gaining user consent.
Desktop browsers are how many users access different AI agents and AI-powered apps integrate new AI tools and features and interact with AI content. If unchecked, Microsoft’s efforts to control the way consumers access the internet today can have far-reaching consequences for how everyone will access the critical products of tomorrow.
With Windows occupying a 70% (or more) market share (worldwide and across numerous jurisdictions), Microsoft’s anti-competitive behavior steers consumers away from trying different browsers that might better suit their needs, and fails to properly respect user choice once they have selected a browser other than Edge. This not only stifles browser developers’ ability to innovate and contribute to the digital economy, but ultimately leaves consumers with fewer options.
Microsoft’s restrictive practices don’t just force Edge onto users—they prevent consumers from experiencing the best features and innovations that alternative browsers have to offer. By limiting competition, Microsoft is stifling progress in privacy, speed, customization, and productivity. Here’s what consumers miss out on:
Wider Extension Ecosystem
One competitor offers a significantly larger and more mature extension ecosystem that gives users access to a variety of tools and features unavailable in Microsoft’s browser.
Customization and Personalization
Other browsers offer users the ability to fully customize their UI, providing far greater flexibility than Edge, which has limited options for personalization.
Enhanced Security and Privacy
A leading competitor provides a built-in VPN for secure browsing and a native ad blocker, improving browsing speed, reducing clutter, and enhancing privacy. In contrast, Microsoft’s browser lacks these critical features and fails to offer the same level of user protection.
Improved Efficiency
One alternative browser consumes fewer system resources, making it faster and more efficient—especially on older PCs. It offers a smoother user experience compared to Microsoft’s offering.
Dedicated Workspaces for Productivity
Another competitor includes dedicated workspaces that improve organization and integration with multiple web apps more easily than Microsoft’s browser.
Fewer Ads
Competing browsers often offer more aggressive ad-blocking capabilities, leading to a cleaner and less intrusive browsing experience.
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