Chrome usage up again, IE slide continues

Google's Chrome Web browser once again saw its market share climb to a new record 19.1 percent in December last year, according to new figures from metrics company, Net Applications. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) continued its descent to 51.9 percent share.

Net Applications noted that Chrome's market share increased from 18.8 percent in November to 19.1 percent in December 2011. In February last year, its share stood at 11.4 percent.

On the other hand, rivals IE and Mozilla's Firefox--which recently renewed its search deal with Google--saw their slice of the browser pie shrink further. The Microsoft browser, after holding steady in November to maintain 52.6 percent, dropped again to 51.9 percent in December. Firefox slid from 22.1 percent to 21.8 within the same period.