[FONT=Arial]Google's Chrome Edges Past Microsoft Web Browser in Usage - WSJ
Google’s Chrome became the most-used Web browser last week, according to data from website analytics company StatCounter, marking a new milestone for the Internet giant in one of its many battlefronts with Microsoft.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Chrome moved past Microsoft’s Internet Explorer just six months after eclipsing Firefox, an offering by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation that Google has helped support, to claim the second spot, StatCounter said.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]During the past week Chrome had 33% of the global market, versus 32% for Internet Explorer and 25% for Firefox, according to StatCounter. Chrome had briefly reached the No. 1 spot for one day a few months ago, but it had never reigned atop the standings for a full week.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Lily Lin, a Google spokeswoman, declined to comment on the StatCounter data but said in a statement: “It’s great to see more and more people around the world experiencing the speed, simplicity and security of Chrome. We continue to remain focused on building a better browsing experience so that people can enjoy a better web.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Google’s Chrome, which touts its ability to quickly load Web pages, has shaken up the browser market since it launched in 2008. The use of Chrome, which is available for free, doesn’t contribute much revenue to Google directly. But as a browser maker, Google can help define the kinds of new graphical features that can be used by sites across the Web as well as helping Google funnel Web surfers to its dominant Internet-search engine, the top driver of Google’s revenue.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Google CEO Larry Page said last year that while it might not be clear how Google can make money from Chrome, “emerging high-usage products can generate huge new businesses for Google in the long run, just like search.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Browsers have become more important as more software development shifts to the Web and away from applications anchored to personal computers and their operating systems, like Microsoft’s Windows, which comes with Internet Explorer. Google has used Chrome to push new Web technologies such as HTML5 that help websites have richer graphics, in hopes of spurring greater usage of the Web—as well as Google’s own websites and online software.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Google’s effort to build a new browser, which started in 2006, was partly born out of concerns that existing browsers would fail to support its Web services or steer users away from its search engine. Microsoft uses Internet Explorer to channel people to its Bing search engine, for instance.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Through Chrome, people can access an online applications market called the Chrome Web store. Some of the Chrome apps are free while others are available for a fee, similar to the app markets for Apple Inc. and Google’s Android mobile devices.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Measuring the use of browsers can be difficult and imprecise, and other firms such as NetApplications still show Chrome at No. 3 behind Internet Explorer and Firefox. But data from nearly every measurement firm shows that Chrome is surging.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Chrome has gotten a boost from a significant advertising push by Google on everything from its search-engine home page to billboards to TV commercials in recent years.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Google also developed an operating system called Chrome OS that is derived from its browser technology and designed to run only Web-based software. Chrome OS laptop computers, built by hardware partners, are currently on sale, though there has been no indication that sales have taken off.[/FONT]
