Even as Microsoft attempts to focus an artificial intelligence (AI) conversation that also includes the Edge web browser, industry bodies and researchers are calling out the tech company for increasingly coercive and intrusive tactics to make the case for Edge. The Browser Choice Alliance and Mozilla Research have again exposed Microsoft’s efforts to create the illusion of choice on millions of Windows PCs.
Earlier this week, Mozilla Research released the latest edition of its Over the Edge 2.0 report, detailing how Microsoft’s design strategy compromises the free browser option. Researchers Dr. Harry Brignoll and Seneed Bowles came to the findings after monitoring Microsoft’s deceptive strategy to drive users to the Edge browser on Windows PCs. The conclusion they draw is simple – “Microsoft continues to drive users away from Edge in Windows, Edge, Bing, and now Copilot through deceptive practices that make it difficult for users to download, set as default, and continue using alternative browsers.”
Industry advocacy organization Browser Choice Alliance told HT that the research highlights an important issue. Mozilla is not a BCA member – Vivaldi, Opera, Wavebox, Browserworks, Midori, and Google’s Chrome are members.
“We commend the research team for shining a light once again on practices that distort competition and limit user choice. The researchers’ findings in “Over the Edge 2.0” reveal how Microsoft continues to use manipulative tactics to push users toward Edge, thereby limiting users’ ability to choose and run their chosen browser. The report demonstrates how Microsoft deploys harmful patterns against users on Windows 11 devices globally. “, a BCA spokesperson told HT.
The scale of the problem, which the BCA is referring to, looks something like this: There are an estimated 1.4 billion active Windows devices globally. While Microsoft avoided sharing details, CEO Satya Nadella did mention in an earnings call in January, “Windows reached a big milestone, 1 billion Windows 11 users.”
A BCA spokesperson says, “We call on Microsoft to respect its users and stop using the Windows ecosystem to drive users toward its own browser in a way that restricts user choice, undermines web freedom and levels the playing field from fair competition and innovation.”
Google Chrome remains the undisputed leader among web browsers, with a 69.65% share at the end of June, according to the latest data from research firm StatCounter’s browser market share report. The trajectory is also clear – up from 66.7% in March. Apple’s Safari is in second place with 15.31%.
Despite all Windows’ efforts to reduce choices across millions of Windows computing devices, Microsoft Edge remains in second place with a 5.21% share.
Last month, in a letter to Nadella, the BCA called on Microsoft to respect users’ freedom of choice and not attempt to stifle competition.
“This principle unites the Browser Choice Alliance in pursuing a digital world where PC users control their online experience, can choose their preferred browser without manipulation or interference, trust that their preferences will be respected, and participate in a marketplace where browsers compete on the basis of merit,” the letter noted.
The Mozilla researchers’ findings, and BCA’s letter to Nadella, point to similar tactics used by Microsoft. These include Microsoft injecting banners directly into the Chrome browser, urging users to switch to Edge, Windows Search and widgets consistently ignoring users’ default browser choices and opening links in Edge, Windows Backup being unable to preserve browser preferences when users migrate from Windows 10 to Windows 11, and ignoring the user’s choice of default browser for links in Teams and Outlook apps.
Mozilla researchers, who analyzed Microsoft’s practices in Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs in four of its most important markets, i.e. the US, India, UK and Germany, note that the situation is slightly better in the latter, as it is part of the European Economic Area as determined by the Digital Markets Act. They call this a “reasonable user experience” for the browser option compared to other regions.
What the researchers are referencing is Microsoft’s regulation of the DMA as a gatekeeper for the Windows operating system, not Edge specifically. In November 2023, Microsoft’s Rima Alai, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, and Nanna-Louise Linde, vice president European Government Affairs, confirmed some of the changes and said that “These changes also include eliminating recommendations in various Windows experiences for EEA users to set Edge as the default browser, including during the configuration process when users initially set up or update Windows.”
However, unlike Google or Apple, Microsoft did not implement a dedicated, full-screen “browser choice ballot” on Windows because the European Commission ruled that the Edge browser did not have a high enough market share to be individually designated as a gatekeeper service.
“Within the EEA, Microsoft has removed many of the harmful patterns documented in our original report – a change that researchers attribute to regulatory pressure, rather than to a genuine change in Microsoft’s approach. The Digital Markets Act has a measurable impact, but a narrow one: many harmful patterns persist in the EEA as well, and users in the US, India, and to a lesser extent the UK remain exposed to a broader set of tactics. Where compliance ends at the border, so does respect for user choice, “Mozilla researchers say.
Google, in early 2020, started implementing a screen giving users the option to choose a search engine when setting up an Android device following an antitrust penalty by the European Commission – and later expanded it to most other geographies, including India.
The collective calls for Microsoft to give users options, including preloading web browser options in Edge to make switching decisions easier, and finally what BCA calls “dark patterns” that hinder users from effectively using other browsers, including pushing banner prompts.
