MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google’s Chrome has grabbed second place behind Internet Explorer as the web’s most popular browser.
According to reports, although Explorer still leads with 40.63 percent of market share, Chrome has copped 25.69 percent with Firefox in third place at 25.63 percent.
Slightly different but similar stats from Net Applications show Firefox at 22.1 percent and Chrome at 18.2 percent. But those figures show Chrome stealing share at the expense of its rivals and Net Applications predicts Chrome will win out by 2012.
And Chrome is the only browser that’s growing.
Safari is stable, Explorer is losing users and Opera is barely holding on, the reports said.
Industry watchers suggest that Google's advertising muscle, Chrome’s grass roots popularity and user word-of-mouth is helping its cause, prompting users who traditionally stay with older browsers to make the switch.