Quote:Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, Waterfox and Wavebox join hands to fight against Microsoft Edge have created the Browser Choice Alliance. The group has called the European Commission to list Microsoft Edge as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Meet the Browser Choice Alliance

Google, Opera, Vivaldi, BrowserWorks (Waterfox) and Wavebox (a premium, ad-free browser), have formed an alliance to highlight the problems associated with how Microsoft promotes its Edge browser on Windows PCs.

One of these is not like the others, what are you doing here, Google? Chrome surely has a dominant share in the market, why is Google participating in this group? Parisa Tabriz, VP and GM, Google Chrome Browser, wrote that Google is proud of the group that advocates consumer choice, and that a user's choice to download and use a browser should be respected. Well, that is fair, but the DoJ might be laughing in the background. Opera, Vivaldi, Wavebox, and Waterfox released statements about the group's formation, which you can read here.

Apple Safari is not available on Windows, so it's obvious why it is not a part of the group. But, it is unclear why Brave Browser, Mozilla Firefox, and others are not part of the Browser Choice Alliance. The press release from the group indicates that there are other companies who share the concerns, but did not want to make their views public due to fear of retaliation from Microsoft, either directly or indirectly.

Browser makers want EU to designate Microsoft Edge as a Gatekeeper

What does the Browser Choice Alliance aim to achieve? Microsoft Windows is used by over 73% of computer users around the world, that's according to StatCounter.  The members of the Browser Choice Alliance allege that Microsoft creates dark patterns, technical roadblocks and deception, to prevent users from setting a third-party browser as their default option on Windows PCs. First time, guys?
 

The Browser Choice Alliance's website illustrates the various anti-competitive practices that Microsoft has in place to promote Edge.  The group argues that fair competition among browsers is essential, and that browsers play a crucial role in education and enterprise environments.

Microsoft's tactics to prevent users from changing the default browser on Windows 11 start with a banner displayed on Bing (the default search engine) in Microsoft Edge. When you search for a third party browser, you may come across a message that says, "There is no need to download a new web browser." The message also highlights the features of Microsoft Edge, in a bid to dissuade the user from downloading the browser that they wanted.

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