Google's Chrome browser surging past Firefox

Google Chrome has pulled into second place in the browser war according to website analytics company StatCounter. Chrome now has 25.69 percent of the market while Firefox has 25.23 percent. Both browsers are trailing the Internet Explorer which still owns 40.63 percent of the market.

When Google Chrome launched in 2008, Loz Blain noted that Mozilla probably had the most to lose out of its release. The most fascinating part about Chrome passing Firefox is just how little time it took to do it. In 2009 Chrome only held a 4.6 percent marketshare and now they have pulled in to second place.

"We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also."

In the United States, Internet Explorer makes up 50.66-percent of the market, with Firefox retaining second place at 20.09-percent, although that is down from the 26.75-percent they held last year. Chrome is at 17.3-percent while Safari pulls in at fourth place with 10.76-percent.

The United Kingdom tells a different story in the browser race. Internet Explorer still holds the lead, but by a smaller margin at just 42.82-percent. Chrome is in second-place with 24.82-percent marketshare after overtaking Firefox (20.56-percent) in July.

The stats collected by StatCounter are based on aggregate data collected on a sample in excess of 15 billion page views each month from the StatCounter network of more than 3-million websites.

Stats from Clicky also reflect the rise of Chrome which is neck-and-neck with Firefox in its latest reports.

However, the latest stats from both W3Counter (Chrome 22.8 percent, Firefox 25.5) and Netmarketshare (Chrome 18 percent, Firefox 22 percent) still show Firefox retaining a greater market share.