It'll probably rise higher too since it appears Safari 6 dumped Windows support as that handful of orphans, assuming there were any actual Windows Safari users, seek a new browser.

coupled with the regular reminders on Google properties to take Chrome must be giving it a boost.

plus spending money on Chrome commercials on television.

there was a thread about this a month or two ago, and i think the general consensus was that the figures were dodgy. they add stuff to their pageview total that shouldn't be included, like pre-rendering traffic. if you follow the "openly questioned" link in the article the numbers dont seem quite so rosey

ike pre-rendering traffic

Yes, but Firefox and some other browsers also do prefetch which can be disabled in the browser and/or blocked at the server which many of us do to avoid wasting the bandwidth and server resources. Not only that, but I believe it identifies such prerender requests in the HTTP header so it could be correctly identified and filtered, but the traffic is still real when you get down the actual pages requested.

The proper metric would obviously be unique browsers per IP but then again, unless you're tracking them with a cookie, you can't tell if it's one browser or several on services with modem pools like AOL where the browser IP changes every few minutes.

There's other things that will also muck up the stats, but I think it's close enough for government work.

My users must not have gotten the memo? Wait, the report is global and my visitors are heavily U.S. based.

1. Internet Explorer 36.18%
2. Chrome 18.68% <---surprised it's #2, yes I block pre-rendering
3. Safari 17.62%
4. Firefox 14.63%
5. Android Browser 8.74%

A similar thread back in May, Report: Google's Chrome Browser Now The Web's Most Used Browser [webmasterworld.com], had a lot of WebmasterWorld members doubting the accuracy of the stats from Statcounter. I certainly don't see this on any of the sites I manage.

Obviously my visitors don't like Chrome, since my stats show Chrome at fourth place at only 9%, behind Internet Explorer (34%), Firefox (26%), Safari (17%).

DOM based statistics for my site last month...

Chrome 36.84% Down

Firefox 35.73% Up

MSIE 11.47% Down

Safari 7.87% Up

Opera 4.55% Down

Opera Mini 0.29% Down

I would say about 90% of the software I've installed for both myself and clients has attempted to install Google as the default browser. No one is complaining unlike when Apple did this with just their update software for Apple.

- John

No one is complaining unlike when Apple did this with just their update software for Apple.

That's because Chrome is an actual improvement.

That's because Chrome is an actual improvement.

For who and at what cost to privacy? I know the internet isn't private but even when walking in a public place your home address, phone number, heck even your last name remain private unless you tell people. Since Google knows this info from other sources(adsense/adwords account, G+ etc) the data Chrome gathers about your browsing habits isn't generic.

I know the internet isn't private but even when walking in a public place your home address, phone number, heck even your last name remain private unless you tell people.

Privacy? I laugh...

We hear this same silly logic about privacy all the time.

That makes the assumption someone isn't scanning those RFID credit cards as you walk in the door, which is very possible to do.

The local police now have license plate scanners and they know who parks where and can scan you while you're driving as well.

Not to mention those FastTrak things I have on the cars so we can zip thru toll booths without stopping and also paid use lanes. Now they're also being used to track traffic flow in a few places, which could identify where I am if they store that info.

In some places the government runs facial recognition software looking for criminals on the myriad of surveillance camera so anyone that's ever had a mug shot is being tracked.

Plus the cell phone company knows exactly where you are at all times you have the cell phone turned on, wonder if they store that tracking information? I know for a fact that they can pinpoint the location of that phone within a few feet.

Just when you think you're out and away from all prying eyes in the forest, no bars on the phone, no cars or cameras, when you look up smile for satellite photos.

Privacy LOL

Chrome is the least of your problems.

Depends where you live, none of the following apply where I live..:)

That makes the assumption someone isn't scanning those RFID credit cards as you walk in the door, which is very possible to do.

The local police now have license plate scanners and they know who parks where and can scan you while you're driving as well.

Not to mention those FastTrak things I have on the cars so we can zip thru toll booths without stopping and also paid use lanes. Now they're also being used to track traffic flow in a few places, which could identify where I am if they store that info.

In some places the government runs facial recognition software looking for criminals on the myriad of surveillance camera so anyone that's ever had a mug shot is being tracked.

Don't leave your mobile phone(s) on all the time..so the following doesn't apply either..

Plus the cell phone company knows exactly where you are at all times you have the cell phone turned on, wonder if they store that tracking information? I know for a fact that they can pinpoint the location of that phone within a few feet.

Just leaves ultra hi def sat..( both "top down" or "oblique" ) needs a clear sky though, to read "optically"..

But as my name isn't tattooed or painted on my body or head, ( I presume you don't have your name marked and sat readable on your person either ? ) the sat won't know who I am..nor who you are..:)

Of course if you've let them "chip" you and thus you can now be read with RF...

the sat won't know who I am..nor who you are

Facial recognition powered by supercomputers and the military grade satellite stuff can read the serial numbers tattooed on a gnats backside but I digress.

Every time someone mentions Chrome the old "privacy" crap comes up like all the other popular browsers don't have most, if not all, of the same issues, right...

I know better than feeding the trolls.

Shame on me.

Doesn't matter as I'm glad to see something that can run javascript faster and has sandboxes actually moving into the forefront of the browser race which will force the others to get off their lazy butts and do something about their speed and security.

Microsoft didn't see the demise of desktop apps coming as things migrate to the cloud but the mass adoption of gmail and google docs should've given them a clue what was coming. The real irony IMO was that MS has been a leading programming language vendor since the beginning of microcomputing yet had slow javascript in MSIE and gave Google an open Window to just walk right in and take what MS stole from Netscape.

Not to mention that MS also insists on using their own rendering engine which doesn't implement CSS the way the rest of the world does, which now primarily all use the Apple Webkit in Chrome and most other browsers.

This trend is inevitable unless MS does something completely radical to stem the tide of users slowly ebbing away from MSIE.

Facial recognition powered by supercomputers and the military grade satellite stuff can read the serial numbers tattooed on a gnats backside

Facial recon via sat, doesn't work when its cloudy..( did I mention that already ? ) and I expect the gov't ( or even gov'ts ) to be delving into who does what and where..they can claim some justification for using such tech..or other forms of "following"..via comm's etc

That is not the same as G doing it via browser and ad tags and "ever cookies" etc, so as to better stalk me with ads..

Although depending on where one is posting from ;-) G and whoever the party in gov't is may be intertwined so much as to be indistinguishable when it comes to data on citizens of the country , or other countries..

A change of party in gov't won't change any of that, lobbying and "we know what the politicians have been surfing / searching for" has given G the means to get what they want ( possible exposure of their surfing habits would calm many a politician, on left and right ;-), and to thus get only token slaps on the wrist, when caught snooping where citizens would not normally expect an ad agency with bolted on search to be snooping*..

Every time someone mentions Chrome the old "privacy" crap comes up like all the other popular browsers don't have most, if not all, of the same issues, right...

The others don't all phone home by default to the plex about what one is searching, looking at ..see above*

I'm glad to see something that can run javascript faster and has sandboxes actually moving into the forefront of the browser race which will force the others to get off their lazy butts and do something about their speed and security.

Partially agreed, but..

Secure as in, secure "from everyone but G and their snooping"..isn't really secure, in my book :)
Their snooping is not necessary to their making a more secure browser, but they just couldn't help themselves..:)

Microsoft didn't see the demise of desktop apps coming as things migrate to the cloud but the mass adoption of gmail and google docs should've given them a clue what was coming. The real irony IMO was that MS has been a leading programming language vendor since the beginning of microcomputing yet had slow javascript in MSIE and gave Google an open Window to just walk right in and take what MS stole from Netscape.

Not to mention that MS also insists on using their own rendering engine which doesn't implement CSS the way the rest of the world does, which now primarily all use the Apple Webkit now in Chrome and most other browsers.

I added and bolded "now" lest we forget that G didn't invent webkit, nor was it first used in chrome with the others following..:)

This trend is inevitable unless MS does something completely radical to stem the tide of users slowly ebbing away from MSIE.

Also the trend of many of speaking of chrome as if it were the only secure browser compared to IE reinforces the drift to chrome, when there are alternatives that do not phone home by default..G's record on abusing cookie permissions in Apple browsers shows where their "interests" really are..and it isn't about the users security, nor their privacy..that is just the "come on" to get at the data about what the user searches for and what they look at, even when they are not using G search to do their searching..

Actually I think that the "who is searching and looking at what" and "how can that be used to influence societies" has taken over at the top of G from gathering data to target more ads, a long time ago.. Manipulating populations long and short term is so much more interesting than pumping ads, getting rich while doing both, is merely the icing, on the heady cake of power, and as long as the adsense checks keep falling on the mat, many are prepared to not think too closely about what really drives G nowadays

[edited by: incrediBILL at 1:21 am (utc) on Aug 8, 2012]
[edit reason] fixed quote [/edit]

Microsoft didn't see the demise of desktop apps coming as things migrate to the cloud

uh what.... im just going to go ahead and quote someone else...

But it turns out the Chrome OS vision of the future, where all we need is a browser, is also wrong. The consistency and familiarity of OS interfaces makes those nascent "web designs" look childish, and our browsers still struggle with simple concepts like drag-and-drop, responsiveness, native code, hardware acceleration, and multitasking.

With the desktop becoming an internet native — a direct client of the cloud instead of a reluctant collaborator — I think the browser paradigm will begin to look like a clunky proof-of-concept for many of our favorite services.

This has been happening for a while with Twitter, where native apps provide a vastly more convenient and powerful method of dealing with the onslaught — even as Twitter attempts to beef up its web app with exclusive, sexier "functionality." More recently, Google has bought Sparrow, a purveyor of desktop and mobile email applications, which I see as a clear admission by Google that trying to make a Gmail app that's simply a window to HTML5's version of events was a total failure.

web apps suck.

get at the data about what the user searches for and what they look at, even when they are not using G search to do their searching..

Now that people expect browsers to suggest searches and check whether sites are safe or not they all 'phone home' in some manner. That doesn't bother me as long as the intention is to improve the user experience when doing searches, showing relevant ads, basically improving my online experience based on my online activities vs showing me junk I'm not interested in seeing.

The only problem that I see is Google didn't always disclose these activities nor let you opt-out which is why some transparency would've done them a lot of good instead of trying to keep everything hidden like it was a trade secret.

is privacy really a selling point for chrome? i dont think the public link google with really good privacy. a big chunk of the public dont go looking for a browser anyway. they probably dont even know the names of the leading makers. they just use the easiest thing to hand.

google has got a long reach, and can put chrome in front of a lot of eyes, just like microsoft did with windows. thats the main reason why the numbers are going up.

if opera had the same clout as google, then their numbers would be going up too.

What is printing a webpage like on Chrome ?
I am sick of Firefoxs poor printing of blank pages, too many pages, preview does not work properly.

Now people are more naked for google to see what they do :p

On SEO context, since google uses chrome data extensively (few of the ranking signals attribute to chrome usage), so it could be not so good news for SEOrs.

Size does matter, pretty soon we will see few good SEO plugins popping up for chrome. Existing one's are not that great.

Albeit better content and high quality links can still win the race so old hand still rules :)

- Lalit Kumar

I have a worldwide audience.
These are the numbers for the last 30 days

BrowserVisits% Visits
1. Chrome 6,331 34.66%
2. Firefox 4,347 23.80%
3. Internet Explorer 4,245 23.24%
4. Safari 1,998 10.94%
5. Android Browser 607 3.32%
6. Mozilla Compatible Agent 3121.71%
7. Opera 179 0.98%
8. Opera Mini 107 0.59%
9. BlackBerry8520 31 0.17%
10 IE with Chrome Frame 13 0.07%

Really surprising is IE.
There must be some panic at MS.

My site with the most traffic also has a worldwide audience and still claims MSIE dominates and FF/Safari/Chrome are all running a close race for second. However, there's is a huge drop for MSIE on that site over the last year.

Internet Explorer 32.86%
Firefox 18.93%
Safari 18.08%
Chrome 16.42%

Compare to a year ago:

Internet Explorer 40.82%
Firefox 25.92%
Chrome 15.33%
Safari 12.88%

Safari is obviously the big winner on my site and MSIE the biggest loser.

My visitors using Chrome barely squeaked up a percentage point.

Internet Explorer48.7 %
Firefox 22.3 %
Safari 13.8 %
Google Chrome 9.2 %


org and PPC.... mostly PPC which browser is worth more :-D

Doesn't matter as I'm glad to see something that can run javascript faster

I'd rather have Chrome handle JavaScript right than fast. There are so many issues in that JS engine that I don't even know where to begin complaining about them ...

i just saw one of the strangest browser share distributions - the percentages were very close to:
FF 1/3
IE 1/4
Safari 1/5
Chrome 1/6