I think there's another factor at play that isn't often mentioned: Google uses the dominant position of its services, as well as the strength of their brands, to promote Chrome as the better browser, in not-so-subtle ways.
One is often repeatedly prompted to install Chrome when visiting Google on other browsers[1][2]. Most normal users would just give up and install just to get rid of the pop up.
Microsoft has been doing the same (e.g. trying to trick you into keeping Edge when trying to select another browser as default on Windows 10), but their product wasn't good enough for it to work, it seems.
That's been fixed recently but there is another issue - Google search results from the home screen always open in a Chrome view, even if your default browser is Firefox. You end up with an awkward mix of Chrome and Firefox.
One is often repeatedly prompted to install Chrome when visiting Google on other browsers[1][2]. Most normal users would just give up and install just to get rid of the pop up.
Microsoft has been doing the same (e.g. trying to trick you into keeping Edge when trying to select another browser as default on Windows 10), but their product wasn't good enough for it to work, it seems.
[1] https://superuser.com/questions/1192441/is-it-possible-to-te... [2] https://support.mozilla.org/it/questions/922025