How important is your Browser? by Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter on 18-Jul-2012

Your web browser isn't usually a great concern - it's normally just a tool we use to access the internet. We have all become used to frequent updates, new functionality with "add ons" and even different browsers that offer a 'different experience', but there is great competition amongst the providers of this (normally) free software on which we all depend so much. Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter which is an independent web analytics company, talks about how browser usage has changed over the past four years and why it is important for us all.

Speaking to BusinessWorks, Aodhan commented, "Everyone uses a browser to access the web. There is a fascinating battle going on between the big beasts in the industry such as Microsoft (Internet Explorer) and Google (Chrome). Microsoft dominates the desktop software market through Windows and Office. They bundled Internet Explorer with this which gave them a head start. The EU ruled against Microsoft in an antitrust case and now within the European community Microsoft must offer users a choice of browsers. While Microsoft traditionally dominated the browser market it has started to feel the effects of competition from Google and other players such as Mozilla Firefox. Our stats are interesting as they show how the internet browser wars are playing out in different markets. The increased competition can only be good for users as it is producing better browsers."

"When we began the StatCounter Global Stats project in 2008, Microsoft's IE dominated the global market," continues Aodhan. "There is much greater competition now. Although IE still leads in countries such as the US and UK, on a worldwide basis, Google's Chrome overtook IE in May and maintained a narrow lead in June."

"IE is not taking Chrome's challenge lying down. From May to June, IE increased its usage share by two-tenths of one percentage point, the first monthly increase since October / November 2011. On a weekly basis, while Chrome overtook IE in week 20 (14 - 20 May 2012), by week 24 (11 - 17 June 2012) IE had staged a fight-back and was exactly equal with Chrome in terms of browser usage for that seven-day period."

"Not-for-profit Mozilla's Firefox is also a real contender. The opening up of competition and greater choice can only be good news for users and help to create better browsers."

"We have just launched a new video which in less than two minutes illustrates the changing world map of browser usage over the last four years. The animation can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtBlvutR9cU.

StatCounter data are based on over 15 billion page views per month (4 billion from the US; 800 million from the UK) to StatCounter's network of over three million websites. The company is independent and transparent. It publishes full information about its methodology, allows users to check its detection and examine its individual country sample sizes. Its research is provided as a free service to the web community.

Apart from its research arm, StatCounter provides free web analytics. This allows website owners to capture valuable intelligence on their site in real time.

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