On December 23, 2025, Microsoft posted an ad on YouTube titled “Windows 11 is the home of gaming,” but little did they realize that we would zoom in on the Chrome icon pinned to the taskbar. After Windows Latest’s coverage, Microsoft quietly edited the ad, removing Google’s browser from the taskbar and showing Edge instead.
Chrome pinned to the taskbar in a Windows 11 ad feels a bit awkward since Microsoft has spent years nudging users toward Edge and Bing. If you go to Bing.com and search for Chrome or even Google, you’ll be nudged to use Microsoft Edge and Bing. And if you’re on the download page of Chrome in Edge, you’ll be asked to keep using Edge.
Nobody is going to deny that Microsoft doesn’t want its users to use Chrome, but at the same time, Windows 11’s ad featured Google’s browser. It turns out it was an accident, not a deliberate move to appear neutral, as Microsoft has quietly edited the ad to replace Chrome with icons of other apps, such as PowerPoint.
When Windows Latest reported the story on January 5, it caught the internet’s attention, with users joking that even Microsoft can’t avoid Chrome.
If you haven’t watched the original ad, here’s a saved copy from my archive:
You’ll notice that Chrome is pinned to the taskbar next to other apps, such as Microsoft Edge. If you still don’t see Chrome in the ad, here’s a zoomed-in screenshot:
Now, if you go to YouTube and watch the same ad, embedded below, you will notice that Microsoft quietly edited the video and removed Chrome from the taskbar as if it was never there.
We have a bunch of other apps, such as Edge, Xbox, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Office apps like PowerPoint instead. But there’s no room for Chrome anymore, and all of that makes sense, as there’s no change in Microsoft’s policy.
It’s the same “Windows 11: The home of gaming” ad, but the only difference is that it no longer has Chrome pinned to the taskbar in the same two frames it did previously, and it pretty much makes it obvious that somebody at Microsoft or its partner ad studio messed it up.
This change was first spotted by Windows Latest, and Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged it yet (and it likely won’t).
As I mentioned, all Microsoft properties constantly nudge users to keep using Microsoft Edge rather than Chrome, so the ad never made sense. For example, Windows Latest recently spotted an ad on Bing that compares Chrome with Edge when you try to download Google’s browser.
Last year, Microsoft also spoofed Google UI on Bing when people tried to search Google in the Edge browser, so they keep using Bing.com
However, Microsoft is not the only company following this approach, as Google also sabotages rival browsers on YouTube, and always nags us to use Chrome when browsing Google.com or other services like Google Earth.
