by Martin Brinkmann on May 28, 2019 in Google, Internet Explorer – Last Update: May 28, 2019 – 19 comments
Another accidental oops by Google that affects a competing web browser in a negative way; this time, users of the new Microsoft Edge browser are affected and the Google site that kicks Microsoft’s browser this time is YouTube.
Microsoft Edge users may still access YouTube but they only get the old design at the time. Some may not mind, as the old design offers better performance than the new. Others may object to the blocking of the new layout on YouTube as it works perfectly fine in Microsoft’s browser.
If you check out https://www.youtube.com/new/ in Microsoft Edge, you get a “your browser is not supported” message. That message is followed by the obligatory “get Google Chrome” instead message. Since there is no explanation as to why Edge is not supported while the classic Edge and other browsers are supported, some may switch to Google Chrome if the browser is not installed already.
Microsoft Edge users will notice that live chat is not working as well in the client at the time. YouTube displays a notification that the browser needs to be updated because it appears to be an older version.
There is no newer version, however.
The new Microsoft Edge browser is not available as a stable version at the time of writing and things may not work correctly in preview versions.
If a web browser supports features required to display a website on the other hand, that website should not go out of its way to block it from content or features.
If you change the user agent in the new Microsoft Edge, you will notice that you get access to the new YouTube design all of a sudden.
Live chat still does not work when you change the user agent though.
Closing Words
Microsoft has been anti-competitive in the past and some hold this against the company even today. My stance is that any form of anti-competitive behavior, especially from a position of power — regardless if done on purpose, neglect, or accident — is something that companies should be reprimanded for.
YouTube blocking Edge from functionality is not the first Google property that put a spoke in the new Microsoft Edge’s wheel. Google Docs displayed an “unsupported browser” message to Edge users as well on any document page on the site.
Firefox was on the receiving end for a very long time and a former Mozilla executive accused Google recently of using a sustained pattern of “oops” and “delay” that hurt the browser immensely.
One interesting takeaway from this is that Google is still in a position to hurt competing browsers (be it actively or accidentally) even if these browsers use the same engine as Google Chrome.
Now You: What is your take on this development? Anything that can be done about it? (via Deskmodder)