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Topic: Browser

Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

Summary: Chrome is catching up to second-place Firefox, and could overtake it by early 2012. Internet Explorer is losing ground, also.

Zack Whittaker

By for Between the Lines |

As Internet Explorer remains the king of all web browsers, upcoming star Google Chrome could be set to take over Firefox as the long-running second place browser.

According to web tracking company StatCounter, Chrome could take over Firefox as early as the upcoming holiday season, but more realistically early 2012.

For September, Chrome's global marketshare reached 23 percent, while Firefox had nearly 27 percent. Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser still leads the way with just over 41 percent.

But as Internet Explorer and Firefox continue to lose share of the global browser share, Chrome is accelerating at a rate of nearly 10 percent a year.

(Source: StatCounter)

Chrome's user base has climbed at an incredible rate, as one of the fastest growing browsers in history.

Google Chromebooks, however, have had little effect on the browser's overall marketshare. Logically, should the web browser do so well, captivating the eyes of hundreds of millions worldwide, the hardware-driven extension to the web browser, Google's Chrome OS would do well also. But sales have been slow, and enterprises and schools have been reluctant to adopt the new technology.

Firefox has dwindled in the past few months, particularly with its new versioning structure. While Chrome offers a rolling update service, seemingly without the end-user even noticing, Firefox users are asked to upgrade at near six week intervals in apparent major upgrades to the browser.

While Google users experience no break in service, end Firefox users are asked to upgrade each time -- making it problematic for enterprises, which often requires administrator intervention.

Having said that, in Europe at least, Internet Explorer alternatives show impressive competition against Internet Explorer.

Last year, Microsoft was forced by European regulators to roll out a 'browser ballot' to Windows users, which affected users with Internet Explorer set as the default browser. A slap on the wrist for Microsoft, it allowed fair competition across the continent, giving Europeans the choice of an alternative browser, which alone negatively impacted Microsoft's share in the European browser market.

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Topic: Browser

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42 comments
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  • Just so long as no single browser has more than 50% market share

    A happily diverse selection of browsers should keep developers honest to W3C standards.
    Zogg
    Reply Vote

    • Net Applications incorrectly claims Chrome only has 14%..

      Chrome has been increasing at a huge rate for many years now.<br><br>If you hop over to W3SCHOOLS and check what they have to say. They predict Chrome's behaviour by over 6 months!<br><br>Though Net Applications states that Chrome only has 14% in the same manner it states that IOs has more browser market share than Android. Bottom line is, Net Applications statistics are skewed and unreliable and not public either!<br><br>Statcounter has been doing a great job and service to all. Kudos Statcounter!
      Uralbas
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

      @Zogg Agreed. More option is better for all of us. I like <a href="http://www.webmastersitesi.com/google-chrome/">chrome</a> for this reason.
      oyna
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

    No bookmark sidebar, no sale (and don't give me the religious bull**** about why there's none.) Other than that it's a nice browser, from what I've seen anyway. No "Save Image to Folder" extension (last I checked) is also a no sale for me.
    Mike (not Cox)
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

      @Mike (not Cox) "No "Save Image to Folder" extension (last I checked) is also a no sale for me"

      OMG! What about the embedded Save image as... right mouse button menu option?
      xpect
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        @xpect That's not the same thing (Firefox has that too, just like any browser.) The "Save Image to Folder" extension allows you to configure a set of predefined folders where to save images. It's a bit too long to explain here, but I have a number of "deep" folders to which I save images depending on type (I have a music review web site, so it's for things like logos, album covers, flags, photos, etc..) The extension saves me a lot of extra clicking etc to navigate to the various folders (which Save Image As... requires.) You can't really appreciate its functionality until you need it, however. It's useless for someone who saves the odd images from time to time, or always saves them to the same folder, for example.
        Mike (not Cox)
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

    Some of the recent gains for Chrome is due to IE9 not supported in XP. But that gain may level out soon as XP slowly dies.

    IE9/IE10 beats Chrome easily in security and performance. So Chrome is pointless for Windows users.
    owlnet
    Reply Vote

  • Chrome is Google spyware

    Not to mention it doesn't have what the Adblock extension has in Firefox. It's become utterly painful to surf the internet without it.

    I also don't like the GUI. It looks like it was developed by a child and has a tinker toy look to it. Not refined at all.
    ScorpioBlue
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

      @ScorpioBlue

      Adblock is present and well on Chrome. Works great.
      Shmeg
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        @Shmeg No it doesn't work for shite and I removed chrome because of that.
        Home Grown IT
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        [i]@Shmeg No it doesn't work for shite and I removed chrome because of that.[/i]

        I've heard many people say that. You're not the first.
        ScorpioBlue
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        @Home Grown IT
        Funny that an a home grown IT, if you really are one, couldn't figure out how to use the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom">AdBlock</a> extension for chrome.

        I use it to block several ads, including those on ZDnet and have had barely any issues with it; frankly, except when I have the option to restore my previous tabs from my last session selected. In that situation, it doesn't work properly with the restored tabs but works perfectly with new tabs created during the browsing session.

        Prefer it over the one in Firefox specially due to the fact that I can simply right-click an ad (or even a website element, eg. those ridiculous task bars that have started showing up on several sites, ZDnet being one of them :p ) and block it completely or parts of it just by sliding a little switch.
        MrElectrifyer
        Reply Vote

    • If it's spyware, then spyware is everywhere

      @ScorpioBlue virtually every website, every software, collects data. few are as easily prevented as Google, few do as little bad with it as Google - Google don't look at individual data, nether do they install programs you don't ask for, neither do they email you endlessly or sell your details. Unlike many other companies. Get a new tune ;)
      Heenan73
      Reply Vote

      • That's no excuse

        @Heenan73 <br>I don't need to have an <b>open porthole</b> to Google to allow them to browse <b>all</b> the websites I go to, and that's what Chrome does. It's a full blown pipe right into their servers.<br><br>Now if you want to be a sheep to all their tracking then that's up to you. Even I wouldn't accuse IE9 of that and I consider myself an ABMer.
        ScorpioBlue
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        @Heenan73

        For me, it's not a matter of what Google does with my data after they collect it. It's a matter of NOT seeing all the inline ads, banner ads, etc., that are inevitable without the AdBlock extension. I have a much better experience with Firefox than Chrome (or Chromium) on Windows XP, Windows 7 and OpenSuse 11.4.
        benched42
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

        [i]It's a matter of NOT seeing all the inline ads, banner ads, etc., that are inevitable without the AdBlock extension.[/i]

        Same here. Pissing off your potential customers by doing this is no way to generate sales.
        ScorpioBlue
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

    Until Chrome has NoScript (Which is never, due to the way it's coded), I'll stick with Firefox.
    Aerowind
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

      @Aerowind

      https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oiigbmnaadbkfbmpbfijlflahbdbdgdf?hc=search&hcp=main

      The future is now.
      Shmeg
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

      @Aerowind
      Google will not let you install anti ad-blocking software. It will not allow you to bite the hand that feeds it and in this particular case, it's website ad revenue.

      If they have extensions that do this, then they are feeble at best and are there for dog & pony show purposes.
      ScorpioBlue
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Chrome could overtake Firefox by 2012

    Chrome can get as much market share as it wants but I'll never use it because the EULA states any data I pass through it becomes the property of Google. That and their extensions don't work as good as the same ones for Firefox.
    LoverockDavidson_-24231404894599612871915491754222
    Reply Vote
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