Google Tries Mocking Microsoft Edge, Gets Pummeled By Users Instead

In an effort to further drive the point home that Microsoft’s web browser Edge is only used to download and install Chrome, Google posted an installer for the browser on the Windows Store. Many took this as the search engine company taking a jab at the Windows giant. However, it was almost immediately taken down due to harsh reviews from users who called it “useless.”

One of the first to report on the new Windows Store item was The Verge, which noted that the only thing it did was open the link that would take users to the download page for Chrome. This is noteworthy since many expected that it would be the actual app for the browser. By providing only the installer, Google is also basically continuing to snub the Windows Store not officially adding Chrome to its listings.

Not long after that, however, users started leaving angry reviews on the installer’s page and it’s not difficult to understand why. Normally, users expect to download an installer from the web and it would actually “install” the thing that it was supposed to. What the Chrome installer did was add an extra step to a process that many already finding grating.

Before Microsoft eventually took down the installer, its review score was absolute garbage, with the overall rating being 1.5 stars. Users were simply not amused that Google was making fun of the Windows 10 ecosystem at their expense, Business Insider reports.

For its part, Microsoft was actually quite sportsmanlike and took the jab in stride. While it did choose to remove the installer because the items on the Windows Store should “provide unique and distinct value," the company is inviting Google to try again and said, “we welcome Google to build a Microsoft Store browser app compliant with our Microsoft Store policies.”