Google Chrome’s recent rise has been verging on the rampant, gaining major ground on IE over the last 12 months. Google’s advance and IE’s decline has been extremely rapid within this area with Microsoft losing 25% of ground on Google in less than a year. This decline by Microsoft could in some way be linked to a similar decline in PC sales, the device to many that is synonymous with Windows and the IE family of web browsers.

Worldwide web browser share  - Google overtakes IE

Google overtakes IE across the world according to StatCounter.

According to the web analytics firm StatCounter Google overtook IE in march, but for just one day. They also sate that their data is based on over 15 billion page views per month (4 billion from the US) to the StatCounter network of more than three million websites.

Google Versus Internet Explorer Around the World

However looking at Statcounter’s data with closer scrutiny, their worldwide stats show IE leading Chrome in Europe and North America with the US still favouring IE at almost two to one. However the emerging markets in Asia, Africa and South America have Chrome leading the way, with over 50% of the latter’s using Google’s browser. India and Brazil also carry a lot of weight, with 40% and over 50% respectively opting for Google Chrome.

Africa web browser share 2012 – Google versus IE

Firefox actually leads the way in Africa where it has been most used browser since October 2011. Google is rapidly catching.

Asia web browser share 2012 – Google beats IE

Google Chrome has led IE since the beginning of 2012 with a rapid recent assault on Microsoft’s dominance.

Europe web browser share 2012 – Google versus IE

It’s a three way tie in Europe between Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. It looks like there will only be one winner in the very near future.

South America web browser share 2012 – Google beats IE

South America seems to adore Google Chrome with extremely fast uptake over the last 12 months, with IE and Firefox being left in their wake.

North America web browser share 2012 – Google versus IE

Microsoft is just surviving in its homeland region and has managed (until relatively recently) to stave off both Google Chrome and Firefox, that however may not last much longer.

Who invented the World Wide Web?

• Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, an Englishman, invented the World Wide Web in 1989.

The Internet

• This is not to be confused with the invention of the internet; the internet was invented in 1969 by the US Department of Defence as a means of communication if they were attacked by Russia, and first records of development date back to the 1950s

FlickR

• 3 Million pictures and videos are uploaded on Flickr everyday

Blog Usage

• Every month it an estimated 350 million people browse the world’s 10s of millions of blogs

Registered website growth

• Between 1995- 2000, 20 million .com sites were registered

Early Growth of the Internet

• In 1994 Web usage was growing at 2300% a year

The Very First E-commerce site

• In 1994 Pizza Hut became the first company to venture into e-commerce, with “Pizza Net”; a service that allowed customers in Santa Cruz, California to order pizzas online. This made the front page headlines of a major US Newspaper’s business section

Court order allowing web-commerce

• In 1994 the injunction previously outlawing web commerce was lifted, paving the way for the likes of Amazon, the world’s first major ecommerce site

Amazon Users

• Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and now has 124 million customers

Source = BBC’s very interesting programme on the internet “Virtual Revolution”