An advertising company fielding a major distribution browser always was a really bad idea.
It was a pretty good idea for Google and, judging by the adoption, it serves users very well too. I think it's up to other browsers to offer better solutions.
The main reason Chrome became so dominant is because:
* Google search results nagged all users to install it for a better experience
* bundled Chrome with countless free software downloads
* it is the default browser on Android