I use Firefox. My wife swears by Chrome, my best friend surfs on the Edge. And my mother doesn’t even know what a browser is and is afraid to delete the internet. You see: browsers are like clothes, everyone prefers different ones.
However, there is still a clear favorite: Google’s Chrome is and remains the worldwide dominator on the browser market and does not even let the competition come within sight of the golden throne. Let’s take a look at the numbers together, work out the reasons and finally it will be particularly exciting, because at the end you are asked!
Chrome on the 1, then nothing for light years
One current statistics on worldwide browser use on desktop PCs proves what many of us would probably suspect: there is no way around Chrome. In December 2022, the browser’s market share was a whopping 66.16 percent, a negligible decrease of 0.02 percent compared to November 2022.
The runner-up can stretch and stretch, the top step remains unreachable. But we are not talking about Firefox, which is still very popular in Europey in particular, but about Microsoft Edge. Therefore, one should see the matter in Redmond with a laughing and crying eye at the same time.
Second place is all well and good, within a few years you have fought your way past established competitors, but in view of the pre-installation on over a billion PCs, a whopping 55 percent deficit (10.99 percent market share) is probably not what the Windows manufacturer is hoping for has.
Google has been the undisputed leader for years. It is remarkable how quickly the Microsoft Edge was able to overtake the competition.
Apple’s Safari (8.98 percent) and Firefox (7.22 percent) are in a close duel, Opera is like I used to be at the federal youth games: It’s completely sufficient to be present. With a market share of 3.29 percent, the red O no longer plays a major role in the browser market, at least on the desktop.
There are many reasons why Chrome dominates, but in our opinion three stand out in particular:
- Well placed advertising: Especially in the early years of its existence, the Chrome browser was aggressively promoted by Google. As soon as we called up the search engine start page, we were advised to switch to the new browser as soon as possible, which would make our life on the web better. And since Google as a brand has great appeal, especially among less experienced users, many take advantage of this offer. Even when installing free software, Chrome quickly ends up on the computer if you overlook a catch.
- Google sets the standards: A factor that has also had a massive impact over the years. Not only because of its search engine, but also because of its other lines of business such as advertising or YouTube, Google has a major influence on the applicable web standards, compliance with which is essential for the success of browsers. No wonder the Chrome browser has always been able to shine in this field, especially when it comes to the much-used Google services.
- And every day the groundhog says hello: Let’s not beat around the bush: We humans are creatures of habit! Anyone who has installed Chrome for the above or other reasons will rarely switch again unless there is a good reason. This is backed up by the extremely consistent market share from 2019 to 2022, which you can see in the image above.
The Chrome browser is heavily advertised, especially when using Google services such as Gmail.
How do you surf the web?
We’ve talked a long time about the reasons for Chrome’s dominance, but finally we want to let you have your say. Once in the comments, where you are very welcome to tell us which browser you use and for what reason. Before you start typing, your vote is also waiting to be immortalized in our poll:
The browser question is also dividing our minds in the editorial office. Jan and Alana explain what they think is so great about the proxies they use:
Thank you for participating and especially for the diligent commenting! If you can think of other reasons why the Chrome browser has such market power, feel free to elaborate in your comments.
