Microsoft may need to send a memo to its ad team. A new ad for PC gaming shows Google Chrome pinned to the taskbar of a computer.
While it's entirely reasonable to assume people who use Windows 11 also use Google Chrome, it's odd to see an official ad from Microsoft highlight the fact. Microsoft aggressively pushes Microsoft Edge. That push is greater than ever now that Edge falls under Microsoft's AI division.
As for the ad itself, it is a brief commercial from around Christmas. It shows several popular games on a variety of laptops. All those devices run Windows 11, which Microsoft and its ad call "The Home of Gaming."
Windows Latest spotted the ad. Chrome appears early on within the video.
Windows is the home of gaming in many ways. As of December, almost 95% of all Steam gamers use some form of Windows. Gamers even appear more likely to upgrade to Windows 11 or run newer hardware that ships with Windows 11 — 70.83% of Steam users are on Windows 11.
The Steam client is now 64-bit on both Windows 11 and Windows 10, thanks to a recent update. While Steam has gained more attention with the rollout and success of SteamOS, the platform is largely for PC gaming.
Technically speaking, macOS has a measurable market share among gamers, but the operating system does not really compete with Windows on the gaming front.
While Windows dominates in terms of gaming market share, many are looking at alternatives to Windows 11, specifically. When Windows 10 reached its end of support, millions of PCs were stuck due to minimum hardware requirements of Windows 11.
Around 90% of Windows games can now run on Linux, making it a viable option for some. But major titles like Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Battlefield 6, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant cannot run on Linux due to kernel-level anti-cheat systems.
Only 3% of Steam users run Linux, but that figure is higher than many would have expected just a few years ago.
I used to work in product marketing. While it was never to the scale of Microsoft, I did showcase products in promotional images and videos. It's standard practice to ensure that your desktop or home screen only shows the exact content you'd like. For example, if you made a sizzler reel for Microsoft Teams, you probably wouldn't show Slack in use on your desktop.
The makers of the ad appear to have done that to some extent. The taskbar in the commercial has Copilot, the Microsoft Store, the Xbox app, and the Snipping Tool pinned rather than alternatives. Interestingly, Microsoft Edge also appears.
Promotional videos do not always reflect reality. Unpinning an app from your taskbar before taking a screenshot is pretty common. If you keep an eye out, you'll see marketing and how-to illustrations show sanitized versions of PCs that no one would use in real life. Want a fun game? Go check the bookmarks shown on any content advertising a browser or browser-based piece of software.
It's wrong to assume everyone at Microsoft uses Microsoft Edge. Heck, we know many folks at Microsoft didn't use Windows Phone even when it existed. In fact, staff were "shocked" that game director Daniel Vávra used Windows Phone "voluntarily."
But I would assume that when you're making ads for a company, regardless of whether you're an in-house team or a hired firm, you promote that brand. Microsoft has aggressive campaigns designed to convince people to switch from Chrome to Edge. Showing Chrome pinned to the taskbar of an ad undermines those efforts.
Should Microsoft promote Google products in ads? Do you think Chrome's inclusion was a mistake? Let us know in the comments.
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