Microsoft has decided to try and convince Windows users to keep using the Edge browser whenever they attempt to download Google Chrome by popping up multiple ads.
Microsoft Edge is the default browser after a fresh install of Windows, but also can't be uninstalled. It seems that's not enough for Microsoft, though. As Neowin reports, experiments are underway to inject two ads if Edge detects a user visiting the Google Chrome download page.
The first ad is a small pop-up when the Chrome website first loads, and it can only be dismissed by clicking the little 'X' in the top right-hand corner. However, the second ad is a full-width banner. Both ads state "Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft" and include a link to "Browse securely now."
Although the statement being made isn't technically false, Microsoft is clearly trying to suggest Edge should be trusted more than Chrome. And if you click the link in either ad, it navigates you away from the Chrome download page to a "Welcome to Microsoft Edge" page instead.
The ads were showing up in Edge Canary, Edge Beta, Edge Dev, and Edge Stable builds of the browser, but Microsoft has now apparently restricted them to only appear for anyone running Edge Beta. I am running Edge Stable and still see one of the ads, though.
Hopefully this isn't something Microsoft decides to make default behavior for the public version of its browser, because that would do little to convey "the added trust of Microsoft" to Windows users.
We also shouldn't forget that Microsoft also places a "Promoted by Microsoft" banner ad at the top of Bing results if you search for Chrome that states "There's no need to download a new web browser" along with a recommendation to use Edge instead (with a link).
There's any number of reasons Windows users would take the time to switch away from Edge, with the most recent being Microsoft's decision to let Adobe handle PDFs in the browser. Then there's Project Phoenix, which could lead to even deeper integration between Edge and Windows. Of course, there's also plenty of reasons why using Edge on Windows 11 is a good idea.