Christmas came early for Google Chrome as it knocked Safari from its position as third most popular browser.
According to Net Applications, which monitors 40,000 sites and the habits of 160 million unique visitors very month, Chrome's market share leaped to 4.4% in the week of 6th to 12th December, stealing a march on Safari with its 4.37% slice of the market. However, both were a long way behind Internet Explorer and Firefox, which had shares of 63.6% and 24.7% respectively.
Even though there's a good way to go, the prospects are promising for Google. Its beta version of Chrome for the Mac, which was released only days ago, has already attracted 1.3% of Apple users.
Google is ploughing major resources into promoting its browser, and has launched a major seasonal promotion encouraging Chrome users to give the browser away for Christmas. Visitors to www.givechrome.com are able to gift wrap the browser in designer paper, and send it to friends, family and others. Recipients are directed to the site, where they are then invited to download the browser.
As Google Chrome's popularity increases, it's a good idea to check that your own website is fully compatible with it. If it isn't, it might be time to speak to a web design agency like Coast Digital and make sure you're not losing custom online.
