Microsoft has launched a new rewards program offering Chrome users "real cash value" points to switch to Edge browser[^1]. When users search for "Chrome" on Bing, they receive a prompt offering 1,300 Microsoft Rewards points that can be exchanged for gift cards, including on Amazon[^1].
The Browser Choice Alliance, representing Chrome, Opera and Vivaldi, criticizes this as Microsoft's latest tactic to manipulate browser choice, following earlier practices like "forced resets, misleading prompts, and hidden settings"[^1].
The market context shows why Microsoft is pursuing this strategy - Edge holds less than 9% market share compared to Chrome's 78%[^1]. The rewards program appears targeted specifically at Chrome users, with Windows Latest noting "we're not seeing ads for other browsers, such as Opera, Firefox or Brave"[^1].
[^1]: Forbes - Microsoft Offers Chrome Users 'Real Cash' Rewards To Change Browser
41 Comments
Grimy@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 300d
Quick google search tells me that is about a buck fifty.
Maybe if they paid me that for every minute I use their browser, I would give in.
macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 300d
Use a better search, googol sucks and was never any good.
Zizzy@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 9 pts · 299d
Ok google sucks and people should not use it, but claiming it was never any good is just rewriting history because you dont like the present
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 297d
Lockpro@mstdn.social · 2 pts · 297d
@aeternum @technology Remember “don’t be evil” ? I’m thinking that’s not the company slogan anymore.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 297d
Lockpro@mstdn.social · 1 pts · 297d
@aeternum I’m a workspace user and after the news the other day, about them helping ICE with facial recognition, I want out so bad. . . Looking for alternatives, and I’m a die hard Mac user, so 365 is a hard pass.
From the news. . . “This includes hosting a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants and removing community-developed apps that alerted people to ICE activity. “
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de · 19 pts · 300d
When I read things like this, I struggle to understand the economic logic behind it.
How much money does Microsoft really expect to get from more people using Edge instead of Chrome? I mean, both of them are provided free of charge anyway. Does the control over the default search engine or the advertising technology or something like that really bring them more money than these "rewards" cost?
Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it · 25 pts · 300d
Because they can rob more data from you, make shareholders more happy and push in your throat more ads
JiveTurkey@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 300d
It all seems even more ridiculous when you realize all of these browsers are just flavors of chrome and MS is pretending it doesn't gather enough data from windows 11 telemetry.
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 300d
It's about profiling the user, logging his activities and searches, certainly bring more money than these "rewards".
belated_frog_pants@beehaw.org · 7 pts · 300d
They want your tracking data for AI, so bad. Also they added payments into the browser itself and they really really want you to use that.
otter@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 300d
Can someone take the points and switch back 😄
kat_angstrom@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 299d
Oh boy, Points. I certainly enjoy the "real cash value" of Points. If only I were paid in Points instead of Money
JiveTurkey@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 300d
I love that the browser choice alliance is made up of a single browser and they're bitching about MS trying to push another flavor of chromium on us. This whole situation is a circle jerk.
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 300d
Not only Chromiums in this alliance, also Geckos there.
https://vivaldi.com/blog/browser-choice-alliance-launch/
thatradomguy@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 300d
That sounds like a scam. lmao
HairyHarry@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 300d
10 Create new user
20 set edge as default
30 profit
40 goto 10
run
DetachablePianist@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 300d
your code looks really basic
dan1101@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 300d
10 GoSub CreateNewUser
lillardfair@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 297d
They got me at work. Sharepoint, which we've transitioned to for everything, fights you tooth and nail every time you try to use it with another browser. I fought edge out of spite for about a year, but I'm tired dog. Wish they'd pay me instead of berating me to death.
benagain@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 295d
I wish my workplace was using Sharepoint... I mean we technically are.
Our intranet homepage now says, "Please access quicklinks through Microsoft Teams under Teams -> All Staff -> General" - so you click on that link, it opens Microsoft Teams, you navigate to the channel where the 'quicklinks' tab is, you click on the 'quicklinks' tab, it says the page is not supported in Microsoft Teams, you click on the tab and open the link in Edge and LOW AND BEHOLD, you get a Sharepoint page with the 'quicklinks'. At least I'll never die of hypothermia because this stuff keeps my blood boiling. It's soooo stupid.
Minimac@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 300d
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 300d
EDGE is an usefull app for downloading an Browser in a new Windows.
HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 300d
FTFY
Definitely check the signature though in case Edge decides to inject some "improved UX" into Linux.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 300d
I had to set up Windows 11 on a new work computer yesterday and this was exactly the purpose of Edge. It's incredible how hard you have to fight during the setup process not to be railroaded into accepting settings that work against you and for Microsoft. By the time I was done I felt sick and angry and there was no way I'd use Microsoft's browser after all that. And then it turned out I wasn't done, because it had defaulted to putting all my documents and pictures in Microsoft's cloud even though I hadn't asked it to, so as soon as I migrated my documents I got a warning that my cloud storage was full and I should pay them more money. So I had to undo all that, but Microsoft already got to see all my documents. Infuriating from start to finish. I am very glad to use Linux on my own machines. Windows feels like a hostile environment with traps around every corner.
Sorry for the rant. I have to go back to that machine today and I guess I'm still angry.
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 300d
If you have to use Windows, there are two mandatory apps with which you can turn Windows in an fast, private and submissive OS without nags and trackings, Hellzerg Optimizer and Portmaster. My tweked W11 use less than 1 GB in RAM and the GUI has nothing to do with the (horrible) original one.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 300d
Thanks. Both of those look interesting.
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 299d
There are two Windows services which are big Data hogs, slowing down the system and which you can desactivate, the hibernation service, which create temporary duplicates of every open app in a temporary file, so it open this apps after Reboot, it's not really needed, you can put apps you use regulary simply in the Start avoiding to fill your PC with tons of temp files. Apart the Index service, which stored any change in the file system, to accelerate the search, but this in a modern PC, more if you use an SSD, don't make much diifference, but save a lot of RAM and CPU.
For customize the UI and the Start menu, which in Win 11 is by default an absolute crap with an chunky Fisher Price design, where you can't customize not even the Task Bar, you can use WindHawk (FOSS), it's something like an userscript manager, which permits to change any aspect of the GUI with an click.
null@piefed.nullspace.lol · 2 pts · 300d
Surely Windows has
curlbuilt inlproven@social.vivaldi.net · 6 pts · 300d
@null @Zerush Well I mean it's very good at silently downloading files from remote servers without telling you, if that's what you mean. It does it for other people all the time.
orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 300d
And 'wget' I believe.
wioum@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 300d
cmd:
winget install Mozilla.Firefoxorbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 300d
Love this.
For everyone bitching about Win 11, I agree - however - I've been using Win 11 LTSC IoT version which is basically a naked version of Win11 with zero bulk, bloat, or unnecessary BS. It's for my consulting workstation. My daily driver at home is Arch. :)
wioum@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 300d
If only us mere mortals could gain access these official non-bloated versions that do exist. 😔
Edit: I use Arch btw for my servers. 💪
orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 300d
You can... massgrave.dev
HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 300d
I mean, unless you're a legend and memorized the Firefox latest release URL you still have to navigate to a website to get the link.
null@piefed.nullspace.lol · -2 pts · 300d
HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 300d
Unless you have a Graphene or Linux phone it's probably just as bad if not worse than using Edge.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · -1 pts · 300d