Google's Done It: Chrome Passes Firefox in Market Share

Google has surpassed Mozilla in browser share, according to StatCounter. Chrome jumped to 25.69 percent in November, while Firefox dropped to 25.23 percent. Microsoft's IE gained slightly and ended up at 40.63 percent.

The result published by the Internet analysis firm matches the previous low in StatCounter's charts, which began recording browser data in July of 2008. Back in December of 2008, Firefox was at 25.23 percent and climbed to a high of 32.21 percent in November of 2009. The browser has been declining ever since then and lost more than 20 percent of its market share (5.14 points) over the past 12 months alone.

Google, on the other hand, was able to grow Chrome's market share by 10.84 points over the past 12 months. However, the growth posted in November was the slowest rate (2.76 percent or 0.69 points) in three years. Microsoft was able to halt IE's decline due to an advertising campaign that was launched last month across the Internet. However, if IE continues its average decline (6.31 points over the past 12 months, Chrome will be able to catch up by the third or fourth quarter next year.

StatCounter isn't the only source; NetApplications still sees Firefox ahead of Chrome in market share. Firefox is listed with 22.1 percent, followed by Chrome with 18.2 percent. IE leads with 52.6 percent. The trend in NetApplications data suggests that Chrome can surpass Firefox in their charts by March or April 2012.