Microsoft Edge browser is shy if compared to other popular browsers on mobile apps store. But that doesn't mean it stops improvising.
The browser has announced that it is baking a native ad blocking feature on its mobile apps, following both Opera and Google Chrome. Here, Microsoft partners with Adblocker Plus to directly put the ad blocking feature inside of it.
The software giant has started making the integration available for Android beta users, alongside an iOS test program.
And just like other in-browser ad blocking feature, this doesn't require users to download things separately, and users can enable it directly inside Edge's settings.
Adblock Plus is a popular ad blocking software available on the market. And Microsoft partnering with the ad blocker, is seen as a significant move because of the adblocker's aggressive blocking feature.
In comparison, Google's own ad blocking is not as aggressive as Adblock Plus, as most ads aren’t blocked on the majority of sites. This is because Google's solution is to only block "bad" advertisements that don’t adhere to the standards laid down by the Coalition for Better Ads.
Mozilla’s Firefox for Android browser also has a built-in ad blocking feature, but it’s only activated when users are using its in-private tab session.
This is bad news for websites that rely on advertisements.
Microsoft Edge for Android has only 5 million installs on Google Play Store, following its official launch for the platform less in 2017. This is far from other browsers, like Firefox which has more than 100 million installs, and from Android pre-installed Chrome which has more than 1 billion installs.
Here, the Microsoft Edge mobile browser only occupies less than 4 percent of the market. Despite being hardly relevant if compared to others, its move is aimed to entice users to give it a try.
Adding an ad blocking feature also shows how serious Microsoft is about creating a great experience for users using its Edge browser. One example is pages that load faster with ad blocking enabled than without.
"This is part of the monthly updates our team does for mobile apps," said a spokeswoman in a statement.