IE7 Browser Tax
Australian Retailer Kogan.com have introduced an interesting way to try and get users to upgrade their internet browser, an additional charge for buying items using an older browser. This charge has been dubbed Internet Explorer 7 Tax, and will add 6.8% to the total price when a purchase is made using IE7, which is the equivalent of 0.1% for every month the browser has been on the market.
Internet Explorer 7 was launched in 2006, since then 2 more versions of the browser have been released and version 10 is due for release in autumn 2012. During these 6 years web technology has come on leaps and bounds and sometimes making a website function correctly on IE7 can be difficult if the site relies heavily on newer techniques.
On their blog Kogan says, “As Internet citizens, we all have a responsibility to make the Internet a better place. By taking these measures, we are doing our bit.”
The way to avoid the extra charge is simply to upgrade to a more modern browser, with options being given within the pop up banner they display on their site. However on further inspection you don’t actually get charged any extra for using IE7, the 6.8% shows on the basket but when it comes time to pay the additional charge is no longer there.
While this could be seen as a great marketing stunt as it has made international news and got the web community debating if it is a great idea or not, it could leave some users scratching their heads as to how much they have actually been charged for their purchase.
