A hot potato: It's no secret that when it comes to pushing its Edge browser onto users, Microsoft isn't afraid to play dirty. There have been numerous stories about the aggressive tactics the company uses, and other browser makers aren't happy about it. Now, a new report dives into the "dark patterns" Microsoft adopts to get more people onto Edge.

The Browser Choice Alliance (BCA), a group of browser makers advocating fair competition and freedom to choose a browser, commissioned the report, which was produced by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT).

The report maps any harm to users from Microsoft's PC browser choice practices, focusing on dark patterns that are used by the company.

For those unfamiliar, dark patterns are designs that steer people into choices they wouldn't otherwise make, such as hiding a decline button or making cancellation difficult.

BIT identified 10 dark patterns that it said make it harder to choose a browser other than Edge or subvert a user's choice of an alternative browser after that decision has already been made. These are:

1. Pushing Edge ads when you search for rival browsers: Banners try to talk you out of downloading another browser and steer you back to Edge.

2. Making the switch incomplete: Setting another browser as your default still leaves files like PDFs assigned to Edge, requiring more changes.

3. Restricting alternatives through Windows S mode: Users have to leave the restricted mode before they can install competing browsers.

4. Ignoring your choice in Windows Search: Web results open in Edge even when you've chosen another default browser.

Source link