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.

Jon von Tetzchner, CEO and Co-founder of Vivaldi, wrote an open letter to the EU expressing concerns about Microsoft's anti-competitive practices. He had also criticized the Redmond company's practices in 2021. Opera had filed an appeal to the EU in July 2024, arguing against the European Commission’s decision not to designate Microsoft Edge as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may also display misleading pop-up screens, warnings when a third party browser is downloaded.

(Image courtesy: Browser Choice Alliance)

Today, I ran multiple searches on Bing to check whether these banners still show up when looking up other browsers, and they do. While queries for Vivaldi, Opera, Waterfox and Wavebox did not result in the banner, searching for Google Chrome, Firefox, Arc Browser showed a message as seen in the screenshot below. Oddly, searching for the word browser does seem to promote Opera browser. Maybe Opera just bought some ad space, that's kinda weird though?

The DoJ's antitrust lawsuit against Google saw executives from other search engine makers testify that most users did not change the default search engine in their browser, because they did not know how to, or because the option to modify it was buried deep in the settings. If that's the case for a search engine, changing the default browser is hard too, right? The group says that these shenanigans affect the web ecosystem itself. That's kind of the reason why the DoJ wants Google to sell Chrome, this highlights how a monopoly can rule the market unfairly.

Back on topic, changing the default browser in Windows 11 is a bit confusing. One would assume that setting an app as the default would make it the go-to app for handling all web protocols, but it's not that simple, you have to change it for each type.

The Browser Choice Alliance also argues that Microsoft frequently tries to default browser to Edge via updates, and forces links from apps like Teams or Outlook to open in Microsoft Edge. Windows may also display a pop-up to coax the user to use recommended settings, as in switch to Edge. Microsoft Edge has resorted to more trickery, it may try to import tabs from your browser.

All of these shady tactics harm third party browsers, and give Microsoft Edge an unfair advantage in the browser wars. That is what the Browser Choice Alliance aims to address, whether they will succeed or not, will depend on antitrust regulators.