Chrome surges past Firefox to become world's no. 2 Internet browser

Google's Chrome has surpassed Mozilla's Firefox to become the world's number two Internet browser, behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer, reveals the latest stats released by StatCounter. According to the Ireland-based research firm, Chrome grabbed 25.69 per cent of the total market share in November, while Firefox managed a share of 25.3 per cent. It's notable it is the first time when Chrome has edged Firefox in the browser popularity wars. Both the browsers trail Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which has a 40.63 per cent of the market share worldwide.

"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," says Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter in a blog post. "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."

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Going by the StatCounter's stats, this is a massive accomplishment for the Google Chrome, which was launched just three years ago. It's notable that other browser, Opera, has been making efforts for a long time to join the top league but still has managed less than 2 per cent of the market share worldwide.

Net Applications' stats, however, suggest that Chrome needs to do a bit of work before grabbing the number two spot. According its stats, Firefox took home 22.14 per cent of the global share, while Chrome managed 18.18 per cent.

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Google Chrome had hit 25% global market share milestone in September this year. The StatCounter stats revealed then Chrome had 25.02 per cent of market share, trailing Firefox's 30 per cent and Internet Explorer's 45 per cent. It was then speculated that Chrome would easily surpass Firefox in a month or so.

Microsoft Internet Explorer is at the top spot for now. In a blog post, Microsoft claims that the IE9 usage share on Windows 7 worldwide is higher than all the versions of Chrome and all versions of Firefox, trailing only to IE9.

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