Google Chrome Only Browser to Show Measurable Growth This Year

In the battle for your browsing activities, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has remained a dominant force for years despite competition from Safari and Firefox. Data from Net Applications demonstrates that while there have been no massive changes in marketshare from month to month, Chrome continues to eat away at IE’s share.

In the time between August and September, browser marketshare stayed pretty much the same. Chrome gained almost half a percent (.46%), Firefox saw just a .03% bump and Safari eked out an additional .11%.

All very unremarkable, except that Internet Explorer lost .75% share in the same interim, even amidst the release of its celebrated IE9 beta.

Still, less than a percent movement in either direction is not especially worthy of note, until you consider change over time.

In looking at Net Applications data from September 2009 to September 2010, some clear patterns emerge. Internet Explorer is on a downward trajectory, softened by some stabilization in the past few months. In the same span of time, Firefox and Safari have stayed relatively stagnant. Chrome, on the other hand, continues to take incremental steps forward, passing Safari in the process and showing signs of continued growth.

Of course, browser marketshare is a difficult thing to measure, as there’s no guarantee that Net Applications’s measurements are 100% accurate. But the measurement in change over time does seem to suggest that Chrome is carving out a nice foothold in the browser war. 7.98% does not a winner make, so it will be interesting to see how things play out over the course of the next few months.