Google avoids Edge browser for 'Chrome Uninstall Survey' in EU

To complaint with the EU‘s Digital Markets Act, Google made changes to Chrome browser and search, Microsoft, not an exception. The company now allows users to uninstall the Edge browser on Windows devices in EEA regions. When users uninstall Chrome, the survey opens in Edge via microsoft-edge: protocol, this may not work in the EU, realizing that Google is now making a change to open Chrome Uninstall survey via URL in HTTPS protocol in the default browser rather than in Edge browser by default.

EEA stands for European Economic Area, which is an agreement that allows the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital among the EU member states and three EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).

Back in November last year, Microsoft announced that it would make some changes to Windows 11 and 10 to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the EEA. One of these changes is that will allow users to uninstall Microsoft Edge from their devices, as well as disable Bing in taskbar search. Since the announcement, Microsoft made the necessary changes to Windows 10 and Windows 11 by pushing updates to make that possible.

When you uninstall Google Chrome on Windows, it opens an uninstall survey for feedback. The survey by default uses microsoft edge:protocol to launch in the Edge browser. Edge needs to be installed or set as a default browser for the survey to appear to the user. This could cause problems if that doesn’t happen With the EEA regulations in place, no one can guarantee users will keep Edge. Users can get rid of Edge in non-EU regions by using registry tricks and third-party tools.

Chrome uninstall survey no longer opens in the Edge browser

Upon realizing this, Google swiftly made a change to launch uninstall Survey URL via HTTPS Protocol in whichever default browser users running on their Windows device. We expect this to apply globally, not just in the EU.

Note: Chrome’s uninstall survey is a web page that asks users who are uninstalling Chrome to provide reasons on why they are doing to act and improve upon.

The change does not affect the functionality of the survey, but it may improve the user experience and the response rate.

There is more to this: the uninstall survey page also includes an option to download Chrome again. When users download Chrome, Microsoft Edge uses that to convince users to use its browser again by showing this message at the top of the page:

Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft. Browse securely now

With the current change, Google also feels happy as they not only avoid opening Edge and its annoying banners, but the uninstall survey also works as usual as before, possibly in a different browser, but not Edge.

So, going forward, Chrome uninstall survey no longer opens by default in Edge browser, what’s your take on this change? Let us know in the comments below.