The other aspect, somewhat memory-holed, was that Chrome was automatically installed as shovelware if you went to install Adobe Flash for IE or Firefox: https:

The other aspect, somewhat memory-holed, was that Chrome was automatically installed as shovelware if you went to install Adobe Flash for IE or Firefox: https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/23jnmy/why_is_chrome_bundled_with_flash_like_shovelware/ https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/23jnmy/why_is_chrom... This kind of not-freely-given consent was key to Chrome's growth.