Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports Microsoft is launching a sweepstakes with a $2 million prize pool to boost Edge browser adoption, offering a $1 million grand prize and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
- Users can enter by setting Edge as their default browser and performing one search, with additional entries available through Bing and Copilot services.
- This aggressive marketing strategy runs until May 2026 in select regions, representing Microsoft’s significant gamble to compete in the browser market.
Microsoft has been trying to get users onto Edge for years. In the past, they’ve used dirty tricks like annoying default browser prompts, targeting heavy Chrome users, and dissuading Chrome downloads. The company’s desperation is flaring again, except this time they’ve switched from the stick to the carrot: a sweepstakes.
Spotted by Neowin, Microsoft’s Edge is now showing a new promotion in-browser: “Get Edge, set as default browser, search once from the address bar—earn 5 entries.” And just below that: “You could win $1,000,000 USD or a car. Plus, thousands of instant win prizes.” That car? One of three Mercedes-Benzes. The total prize pool? $2 million.
Only users in the US, Canada, Mexico, or one of the few allowed European countries are eligible to participate. The sweepstakes is currently active and ends on May 21st, 2026 at midnight PT.
Neowin dug into the terms and conditions for the promotion and found other ways to increase your chances of winning: “visiting the sweepstakes page, sharing personalized links to the page with friends and family, using the Microsoft Rewards extension, redeeming Microsoft Rewards rewards, leveraging the Bing and Copilot mobile apps, and trying Bing Image Creator, Video Creator, and Copilot Search.”
It’s a generous marketing strategy and a huge gamble on the company’s part, one that will only pay off if Edge has truly improved to the point where users will actually find it more palatable than Chrome, Firefox, and every other browser on the market. But even if you think Edge is the worst of them, the chance to win a million bucks (or a Mercedes car!) can make it worth the trouble.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.