Google Chrome hits 20 per cent global market share

This is up from under three per cent two years ago

Google Chrome has gained a 20 per cent share in the global web browser market, according to the latest figures from web analytics firm StatCounter.

Google Chrome, which was first released as a beta for Windows in September 2008, currently has 20.7 per cent of the global market, up from 2.8 per cent in June 2009. In the same period, Microsoft's Internet Explorer has seen its share shrink from 59 per cent to 44 per cent, and Mozilla's Firefox has dropped from 30 per cent to 28 per cent.

"It is a superb achievement by Google to go from under three per cent two years ago to over 20 per cent today," said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.

"While Google has been highly effective in getting Chrome downloaded, the real test is actual browser usage, which our stats measure".

Chrome has reached 21.1 per cent market share in the UK, which is only slightly behind Firefox at 21.7 per cent. Internet Explorer still dominates in the UK with 46.4 per cent.

South America has taken to Google's browser particularly well, where its 29.7 per cent share has overtaken Firefox at 24.6 per cent.

For an in-depth review of the latest version of Google Chrome visit Computing.co.uk.