Chrome, IE9 gain in browser wars

Browser-usage statistics for September indicate that Google's Chrome is gaining ground, alongside Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9, and mobile browsers Apple iOS and Google Android.

Google's Chrome browser continued its steady rise in usage on Net Applications's network of thousands of websites, increasing from 7.5 percent in August to 8 percent in September, the analytics firm said. Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains the top-ranked browser, but its share dipped from 60.4 percent to 59.7 percent. Second-place Firefox was essentially flat at 23 percent. Apple's Safari rose a tenth of a point to 5.3 percent, while Opera kept its 2.4 percent share.

Chrome helps spread the Google brand, but it also serves as a vehicle to disseminate Google technologies. On Thursday, Google said it will add support for its new WebP image format to Chrome in an effort to speed browser graphics. Chrome 7 is getting Google Instant search abilities, some hardware acceleration and WebGL 3D graphics support by default.

In September, IE drops at Chrome's expense. Credit: NetApplications

For more on this story, read Rising browser powers: Chrome, iOS on CNET News.