Google strikes back: browser wars heat up as Chrome ads target Microsoft Edge users

[Karlston]

Google strikes back: browser wars heat up as Chrome ads target Microsoft Edge users

Anything Edge can do, Chrome can do better…

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

 

In a galaxy very, very close to home – this exact one, in fact – Microsoft and Google are taking serious aim at each other’s respective user bases in the browser wars, with the latter introducing yet more adverts to try to persuade Edge fans to join the Chrome side (although Microsoft is equally guilty of being engaged in very similar tactics).

 

Google’s latest effort to promote Chrome at the expense of Microsoft Edge involves embedding an advert in Gmail security alert messages, which are sent when a new login has been made.

 

In other words, if you sign in to your Google account on a new device, you get an email through to alert you of that activity, just to check that you have indeed logged in (and that it’s not someone else fraudulently accessing your account from their device).

 

When that sign-in comes from a Microsoft Edge user on Windows 10, Google has sneakily placed an advert in the email alert trying to persuade the user that they should be browsing with Chrome instead.

 

As spotted by Windows Latest, a Reddit user posted a grab of the ad, which says: “Make the most out of Windows 10 with the Chrome browser. Chrome is a fast, simple and secure browser, built for the modern web.”

 

This is not a new tactic from Google, which has previously pushed similar ads on Edge users via its various online services and products, including G Suite, Google Drive, YouTube and its search engine, among others.

One-big-advert-Drive

Microsoft is similarly guilty, as we saw earlier today, of this kind of aggressive and targeted promotional activity, most recently with adverts in OneDrive aiming to persuade Chrome (and Firefox) users to migrate over to the new Edge.

 

Previous to that, Microsoft has pushed Edge adverts via its Outlook.com webmail service, and ads have appeared in the search bar in Windows 10 as well as the Start menu (the latter aimed to persuade Firefox users to switch to Edge).

 

It’s a case of both being as bad as each other, really, when it comes to pestering users. But given how dominant Chrome is in the browser world, Microsoft could perhaps take this as a compliment. It’s Edge with all the ground to make up, after all – a huge gulf of it, in fact – and clearly Google perceives some threat and certainly isn’t resting on its web laurels.

 

 

Google strikes back: browser wars heat up as Chrome ads target Microsoft Edge users

 

[Jogs]

When your product is not good (Chrome, Edge) you need to advertise a lot and when you have a very good product (Firefox) you don't need to advertise.

[coromonadalix]

So sick of the ads pollution ....

 

[mantazzo]

14 hours ago, Jogs said:

When your product is not good (Chrome, Edge) you need to advertise a lot and when you have a very good product (Firefox) you don't need to advertise.

True. However, as we can probably see from the usage bars various places give us, (aggressive) advertising works very well - much better than no advertising.

[steven36]

On 6/6/2020 at 6:47 PM, mantazzo said:

True. However, as we can probably see from the usage bars various places give us, (aggressive) advertising works very well - much better than no advertising.

That how Google Chrome become #1  was they had better advertising than everybody else  also it syncs  up across all OS mobile and Desktop  when it  was new it was a OK browser it used less CPU than Firefox but now they got  the masses using it its became bloated and Firefox is much lighter . When browsers switch to x64  if you have a  low end  PC Chrome will eat up every bit of your memory .Virgin Chromium is  just as good as  Google Chrome and because of lack of advertising it never  had many users but for me on Linux it's better   because it has Hardware Acceleration patch  for X that Google never plains to implement in the closed source version .

 

Firefox is working  on  Hardware Acceleration for wayland  on Linux  also theres the  privacy issue with Google being sued $5 billion for spying on there users in privacy mode. Billions of people also use Facebook  but that don't mean I'm going to use it and I  stop using Microsoft browsers in 2007 .Microsoft has never had great advertising they was Yahoo then they was Google  the reason Microsoft got it's users was they was no smartphones . Mac OS  the hardware cost to much and Linux was hard to maintain back then .

 

Many Windows users left for smartphones sinking them further into Google's ecosystem the  kids today  grew up with smartphones they don't remember how it was back when there was none so  most people left on Windows are the older generation and businesses.