Google, as we know, is one of the largest companies . However, it has been accused by many of using certain practices to reach the top of web browsers and surpass its competitors.
A former company employee admitted that Google did indeed engage in such manipulative methods.
Former Google and YouTubeChris Zacharias said that Google had taken part in a conspiracy that was made in collaboration with YouTube developers.
The goal of the conspiracy was to downgrade Internet Explorer 6, or IE6. Their actions resulted in a significant reduction in the share of Microsoft.
Developers didn't want the IE UI anymore, as they had to update it every week or two. They were fed up with that, so they decided to do the following: they started displaying a notification, visible only to Internet Explorer users, informing them that support for the web browser. This resulted in IE's market share dropping from 19% to 10%.
The notification, which appeared to users, read: “We will soon be removing support for your web browser. Please upgrade to one of these more modern web browsers.”.
The message appeared on all YouTube pages. At that time (about 10 years ago), IE6 users represented 18% of YouTube users.
When the notice was first published, many tried to get the team to withdraw it. For example, some Google lawyers feared that trying to downgrade Internet Explorer and promote Chrome could lead to penalties from the European Union for unfair behavior. However, YouTube developers said that they were promoting other browsers, not just Chrome. Then it was revealed that Googlers wanted to end support for Internet Explorer, which they eventually did.
Google has been accused of engaging in such practices many times. A former Mozilla employee said that Google had done something similar at that company as well.
