Microsoft should recommend Edge like Google recommends Chrome

VentureBeat reported yesterday that Microsoft was displaying recommendations on Bing when users use Microsoft Edge to search for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox on the search engine the first time on the company's new Windows 10 operating system.

The recommendation is displayed on top of the results stating that "Microsoft recommends Microsoft Edge for Windows 10".

There is a learn why button which leads to a page explaining the benefits of Microsoft Edge (geolocked).

It is clear that Microsoft wants Windows 10 customers to use Microsoft Edge and not another browser, but the way the company tries to prevent it makes little sense.

It seems reasonable to assume that most users searching for another browser using Edge do so because they want to download it. They have already made up their mind and I'd question the effectiveness of trying to persuade users with the help of the recommendation banner.

If you compare Microsoft effort to Google's efforts to advertise Chrome, you will notice that Google's efforts are way more effective.

When you visit Google properties using a browser that is not Chrome, a prompt may be displayed informing you that there is "a better way to browse the web".

This is placed prominently on major Google properties such as Search and one main reason why Chrome managed to snatch lots of browser market share in little time since it was first released.

If you compare the two marketing efforts, you will notice differences. Google displays the prompt without the user becoming active on its properties while Microsoft displays it only -- and only once -- when users search for Chrome or Firefox using Bing.

Microsoft does not display recommendations to use Microsoft Edge if Windows 10 users access Microsoft properties such as Bing or Microsoft.com with Firefox or Chrome.

Doing so would -- likely -- be more effective than displaying that single recommendation message when users search for specific terms on Bing only.

Personally, I'd like to see a level playing field for all browser makers as Google's current practice puts companies like Mozilla and others at a serious disadvantage.

Now You: What's your take on this?