Microsoft’s Cheap SEO Tactics May Have Pissed Edge Users Even More

As told by many SEO experts, if you want your content to rank better on search engines like Google and Bing, don’t forget to include the KWs people search the most. Ever since the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge has come into existence, the number of people searching “Uninstall Microsoft Edge” or “Can’t Uninstall Microsoft Edge” has also risen.

The reason is simple; once the browser lands on your system, there is hardly any way you can remove it from your Windows PC (a long one exists) unless you choose to ditch Windows and move to Linux or macOS. The case is similar to how you can not remove the legacy Edge browser.

Anyway, the Windows-maker took the opportunity and created a Microsoft Edge support page titled, “Can’t Uninstall Microsoft Edge,” giving a ray of hope to the users, except, it was short-lived (Fun fact: MS’ support page is on top of Google SERP).

They had us in the first half

The support page describes how the Edge Chromium has a phased rollout and that it’s “better in terms of performance, privacy, security, productivity, and support features it offers.”

It even says that “Microsoft Edge gives users full control over importing personal data from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge.”

But that’s it. That’s where the control ends, and MS reveals that users can’t remove Microsoft Edge or rollback to legacy version since the browser is part of the latest Windows Update.

The height of criticism Microsoft is facing over the whole Edge browser thing is quite significant. A user even labeled the browser as malware after it landed on his wife’s Windows 7 PC without warning via Windows Update.

It’s interesting to note that Windows 7 reached end-of-life earlier this year and won’t receive any feature or security updates (at least it was true until this happened). But one reason could be that the new Edge browser will support Windows 7 until July 2021.

Furthermore, MS Edge is also being called out for copying data from Google Chrome.

Also Read: 10 Best Web Browsers For Windows 10

The other side

Now, flipping the coin reveals that the new Microsoft Edge browser is actually good enough to be a Chrome alternative. In fact, I have started using it as my browser outside of work. It’s the latest offering from Microsoft and destined to arrive on almost every Windows PC sooner or later.

Also, a web browser is a core app that is often pre-installed on most operating systems. So, in one way, it would be a little too much to ask an OS vendor to provide a way to remove their beloved browser.

In case you forgot, the default browser is what you use to download your favorite web browser, which could still be Chrome or Firefox. However, that’s not the only way, but it’s the easiest. And of course, you can remove Edge after installing the other browser.

Also, we are talking about Microsoft here. While the company loves open-source more than ever, it’s still not open enough to give users such extensive control over Windows. If that’s what you expect, probably you’re living in an illusion.

But the way it’s promoting Edge may be easily called as too pushy. Probably, Microsoft shouldn’t have just created a page called “Can’t Uninstall Microsoft Edge” and blatantly tell users they can’t uninstall Microsoft Edge at all. Surely, a user browsing the web to find a solution wouldn’t dance in joy after reading it.

If you think your product is good, then you have to release it properly and then at least trust your users that they’ll eventually start using it. But not just Edge, Redmond is known for forcing its other products on people (read Windows 10) even though many of them would end up using it anyway because that’s the only option.

The post Microsoft’s Cheap SEO Tactics May Have Pissed Edge Users Even More appeared first on Fossbytes.

Microsoft’s Cheap SEO Tactics May Have Pissed Edge Users Even More
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