Google Chrome surpasses Firefox, takes #2 spot in the UK

[Julio Franco]

When Firefox became the alternative of choice to Internet Explorer, I'm sure its developers never imagined they were opening the door for a third party to take over in a fraction of the time it took them to transform the browser market, it was a harsh first few years after all. When you consider other companies like Opera tried for years but never captured the mass following they probably deserved, it's an overwhelmingly impressive feat for Google and its Chrome browser.

Monitoring data from web metrics firm Statcounter show that Chrome overtook Firefox as the second most popular browser in the UK with 22% of the overall pie. It was marginal win, but a win nonetheless. Firefox still captured ~21.6% of the market but it's on a downward trend from the 25% share it had a year ago (Chrome grew from 11% over that same period).

Internet Explorer remains the most popular browser in the United Kingdom with 45% usage, though like Firefox it's way down from the 55% high it enjoyed just a year ago. Safari is the 4th most used web browser in that country with a 8.5% market share.

The Guardian reports that Chrome is the first product that Google has advertised nationwide on British television.

Exactly a month ago we reported on several metrics for worldwide browser usage where we observed Chrome was still ways off from reaching the second spot with a 13% market share, versus 21% of Firefox, and a very dominant 53% position from Internet Explorer. On the other hand, TechSpot readers who are undoubtedly ahead of the curve predominantly use Firefox and Chrome browsers (61% combined) versus 30% for Internet Explorer users. This in spite of the fact Internet Explorer 9 is not a bad browser, regardless of what others have to say about it.

To share one last interesting figure about browser usage, Firefox controls the browser market in Germany with 6 out of every 10 users running it.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/44890-google-chrome-surpasses-firefox-takes-2-spot-in-the-uk.html

 

[darkzelda]

I can't believe that Opera is at the bottom of the list, it's the best internet browser I've ever used, but it's a shame is not as popular as it deserves.

 

[1977TA]

Is that counting Android/Mobile devices? I personally do not use Chrome on my PC's except to test web sites that I create. The company I work for ( Fortune 500 ) actually blocks the ability to download it and our anti-virus software removes the .exe file if it's located on your machine. All internet clients gather user data, my IT people tell me Google Chrome gathers too much apparently. So no Chrome for big business!

 

[mario]

I don't think they count Android/Mobile devices since the browser on them is not even called Chrome.

 

[Burty117]

To be fair, at least in the uk. I support over 300 companys across the uk and i've found that alot of old computers that are not locked down and a user has local admin rights on, seem to download and install chrome simply because when they go to google.co.uk ot asks them to download "a better experience" and then of course it sets itself as the default browser and this causes all sorts of issues.

Personally I hate Chrome due to the fact google try to ram it down your throat.
Firefox all the way!

 

[Jibberish18]

darkzelda said:
I can't believe that Opera is at the bottom of the list, it's the best internet browser I've ever used, but it's a shame is not as popular as it deserves.

Opera for desktops, has always been a sort of niche browser with a very small marketshare overall. I think they've made peace with that, given that they own the mobile market, more or less. I credit Opera with being the the browser that featured lots of innovative features that were copied by others. My only problem with it, is it's just too damn feature packed. This is one of the reasons I put Chrome onto peoples machines that have weak hardware (need the most speed on the least amount of horsepower), because I know those people won't want to look through all the different options. Neither do I, but otherwise, a great browser.

 

[blimp01]

google updater is a virus

 

[Burty117]

blimp01 said:
google updater is a virus

+1

 

[lawfer]

Jibberish18 said:

darkzelda said:
I can't believe that Opera is at the bottom of the list, it's the best internet browser I've ever used, but it's a shame is not as popular as it deserves.

Opera for desktops, has always been a sort of niche browser with a very small marketshare overall. I think they've made peace with that, given that they own the mobile market, more or less. I credit Opera with being the the browser that featured lots of innovative features that were copied by others. My only problem with it, is it's just too damn feature packed. This is one of the reasons I put Chrome onto peoples machines that have weak hardware (need the most speed on the least amount of horsepower), because I know those people won't want to look through all the different options. Neither do I, but otherwise, a great browser.

Chrome is the prefect exnaple of a placebo effect. Most people know Chrome consumes mote resources than other browsers. Other than that, I agree with your post.

 

[Jibberish18]

Lawfer said:

Jibberish18 said:

darkzelda said:
I can't believe that Opera is at the bottom of the list, it's the best internet browser I've ever used, but it's a shame is not as popular as it deserves.

Opera for desktops, has always been a sort of niche browser with a very small marketshare overall. I think they've made peace with that, given that they own the mobile market, more or less. I credit Opera with being the the browser that featured lots of innovative features that were copied by others. My only problem with it, is it's just too damn feature packed. This is one of the reasons I put Chrome onto peoples machines that have weak hardware (need the most speed on the least amount of horsepower), because I know those people won't want to look through all the different options. Neither do I, but otherwise, a great browser.

Chrome is the prefect exnaple of a placebo effect. Most people know Chrome consumes mote resources than other browsers. Other than that, I agree with your post.

Actually yeah, I have seen from tests from others and myself that it uses the most amount of CPU power for example, but it still gives some of the best performance. I know those same people who's computer I put it on, when be trying to multi-task. They're not power users basically so Chrome is free to use the CPU for day to day web tasks. Talking of placebos, people would say that Firefox uses the most memory but I've seen tests say otherwise and I'm talking about Ver. 3.x.

 

[lopdog]

burty117 said:
Personally I hate Chrome due to the fact google try to ram it down your throat.

I have to agree that it sometimes worries me to use a browser from a company like google that seems to aim for world domination...
But I really like their browser Fast, simple, and easy. Together with the AdBlock-extension it has all I need.

 

[Eddo22]

darkzelda said:
I can't believe that Opera is at the bottom of the list, it's the best internet browser I've ever used, but it's a shame is not as popular as it deserves.

I agree. Opera also makes the best browsers for Pocket PC...aka Pre-Smartphone.. don't know about Smartphones as I don't have one.

 

[Guest]

Come on Firefox. Don't lose a big step to chrome. I like the various add-ons of firefox, but I still don't use it as my NO.1 browser for its low compatibility. This is also the same thing in chrome. Ilike the fast speed of chrome.
I'm expecting one day both of you will get the compatibility of IE's ,if not ,Avant browser and maxthon's are ok. I don't want to change browser in the middle of my using.

 

[DarthKnight]

Guest said:
I'm expecting one day both of you will get the compatibility of IE's ,if not ,Avant browser and maxthon's are ok. I don't want to change browser in the middle of my using.

You could use ChromePlus from chromeplus.org

It has built-in IE Tab that works better then firefox IE-Tab addon. I've used ChromePlus for over a year now. It's my go to browser. It has a few popular firefox addons builtin. like TabMix plus, Quick/Super drag, has its own download manager if you dont like default Chrome style download. built-in adblock(tho i use The Ultimate Aye extension.

Give it a try if you're tired of switchin around

 

[Guest]

Google (a company that has grown huge with advertising) has a browser and there are still gullible people who use it? Don't they get it that Google invested lots of money in its developments, purely to spy on people's online behavior? Oh wait, Google is Santa Claus, everything they do is for free just for the sake of it. I'm amazed daily by the stupidity of people....sigh