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Google's Done It: Chrome Passes Firefox in Market Share

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Google has surpassed Mozilla in browser share, according to StatCounter. Chrome jumped to 25.69 percent in November, while Firefox dropped to 25.23 percent. Microsoft's IE gained slightly and ended up at 40.63 percent.

The result published by the Internet analysis firm matches the previous low in StatCounter's charts, which began recording browser data in July of 2008. Back in December of 2008, Firefox was at 25.23 percent and climbed to a high of 32.21 percent in November of 2009. The browser has been declining ever since then and lost more than 20 percent of its market share (5.14 points) over the past 12 months alone.

Google, on the other hand, was able to grow Chrome's market share by 10.84 points over the past 12 months. However, the growth posted in November was the slowest rate (2.76 percent or 0.69 points) in three years. Microsoft was able to halt IE's decline due to an advertising campaign that was launched last month across the Internet. However, if IE continues its average decline (6.31 points over the past 12 months, Chrome will be able to catch up by the third or fourth quarter next year.

StatCounter isn't the only source; NetApplications still sees Firefox ahead of Chrome in market share. Firefox is listed with 22.1 percent, followed by Chrome with 18.2 percent. IE leads with 52.6 percent. The trend in NetApplications data suggests that Chrome can surpass Firefox in their charts by March or April 2012.

50 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Raidur 02 December 2011 11:43
    Congratz to Chrome/Google!

    Chrome is a neat quick browser. I use it w/ BF3 for RAM usage.

    I'll stick with my Firefox + NoScript + Adblock Plus, however, for my browsing.
    Reply
  • Yargnit 02 December 2011 11:51
    Chrome's Adblock+ is significantly behind Firefox's, especially when it comes to streaming video adds on justin/twitch.tv and the like.

    In general I've swapped to Chrome more in the last couple weeks though because Firefox has started to feel slower comparatively.

    I do miss Firefox's addons such as auto-pager for forum reading, and download helper for YouTube though.
    Reply
  • de5_Roy 02 December 2011 11:56
    nooooooooooooooooo
    darned mozilla should have taken steps to solve memory problems during version 3 release. if they'd solved that earlier they could stood a better chance.
    if chrome has already passed according to one analyst, it'll do the same with others by mid-2012.
    get to work, mozilla!
    Reply
  • nikorr 02 December 2011 11:58
    Right on track...
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN 02 December 2011 12:01
    Now make a 64-bit browser and you just might top IE.
    Reply
  • mightymaxio 02 December 2011 12:13
    Honestly no point to use chrome for ram usage. 16 gigs of ram XD
    Reply
  • CaedenV 02 December 2011 12:17
    congrats to google!
    I have been using it almost a year now and find FF and IE to be so unnecessarily complicated to use. And yet Chrome has plenty of features to tweak in spite of it's simple approach.
    Next up would be IE, but I have to say that IE has come a long way with v9, and may be useful again in v10, so Chrome may never quite beat them.
    Reply
  • Haserath 02 December 2011 12:20
    YargnitChrome's Adblock+ is significantly behind Firefox's, especially when it comes to streaming video adds on justin/twitch.tv and the like.In general I've swapped to Chrome more in the last couple weeks though because Firefox has started to feel slower comparatively.I do miss Firefox's addons such as auto-pager for forum reading, and download helper for YouTube though.That speedup is really a placebo affect. They're so close together that it shouldn't make much of a difference browsing.

    I like Firefox for the addons; Chrome is just nice for a lightweight browser. I have 6GB of memory anyway, so the small memory usage "issue" isn't anything to worry about for me.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom 02 December 2011 12:25
    Rofl, can't care less about "market share" (and stop calling it a market, browsers are free) - Firefox >>>>>>> Chrome for my purposes. The only thing I use Chrome for is its awesome remote desktop app; if somebody can suggest a similar addon for FF, PM me or write back in the comments. Chrome's UI makes me throw up.
    Reply
  • tuffjuff 02 December 2011 12:33
    Anything but IE8. IE9 isn't that bad, though.
    Reply