Free Google web browser - Chrome

On September 2nd 2008, Google released a beta version of their shiny new free web browser - Chrome. I was on the way back to India (Yay!) on the 6:00am flight from Dallas to JFK (to board the international flight) and saw it splashed all over newspapers. The week before I was with my very good friend too busy and too drunk to go through my emails (forget RSS feeds)... the news blew the haze from my eyes. I guess other developers around the world would have been surprised too! I simply love these little shockers Google throws at us - the free web browser and the G1 phone.

Update: On the 11th of December, Google removed the beta label from the Chrome web browser - read more about it in The Official Google Blog - because their "goals for stability and performance have been met". In the offing is an extensions platform and Mac and Linux versions (and I'm waiting for that to happen).

Download the free Chrome web browser from Google - http://www.google.com/chrome. You can install it in seconds and it's a simple process... however, if you need step-by-step instructions, please refer download and install Google Chrome.

What is Google's aim in releasing Chrome?

The first question I asked myself - why has Google released a free browser when it supports Firefox which is a good product? FYI, at the time of writing, Chrome is still not a part of the Google software pack collection. [Update: Chrome has now been included in the Google software pack]
So what gives? Do they want to flood the market with similar products just to eat into Internet Explorer's share? I am sure the great marketing pundits have enough theories on this to fill a big fat book. The point is, by releasing a free web browser; Google has thrown itself in the ring with Microsoft. This might be the start of round 1.

Come to think of it, round 1 of the fight between Google and Microsoft had already started when the former endorsed Firefox... hmmm. On Windows operating system, Firefox has been steadily eating into the market share of Internet Explorer - check the graph below. By the way, these numbers are from my web site and might differ for your site or the browser statistics compiled from all over the world.

The free Firefox is a cross-platform web browser while Chrome is available only for Windows, at the time of writing. This definitely means that Google is trying to confront Internet Explorer head on. However, the numbers from my web site show that people using Firefox are more likely to switch to Chrome; these might be web developers who thought of giving Chrome a try. The share of Internet Explorer fell by 2.55% while Firefox was more adversely affected showing a 4.05% decrease. Bear in mind that I.E.'s share was decreasing anyway while Firefox was on the rise.

In my opinion, the one important reason for taking out a web browser would be to get a stronger hold of the web search field. As we all know, Google has been a leader for years and to remain so, they have to put in extra efforts else an upstart can quickly take a bit bite out of their share. It's vital for Google to work hard and come up with products and services that, directly or indirectly, cater to web search. This would not only help in their advertisement program but also help them in bettering the results for the billions of queries the Google search engine processes each month.

Usage statistics for Chrome

My web site had a steady 2.6% visitors using Chrome in the first two months after launch. Again, these numbers would not be consistent with your web site statistics. A not-so-startling fact - the sheer clout of Google makes sure that Chrome beats the Opera browser (on my web site) in the first two months of release! I'll keep a close watch on this and post updates when something "new" happens.

Update April 2009: While checking the usage statistics of the various Windows based web browsers for the past 12 months I realized that both Internet Explorer and Safari have shown a decrease in usage (percentagewise, of course). The two browsers who seem to have benefitted are Google Chrome and, surprisingly, Apple Safari!

Update June 2009: Google Chrome numbers continue to rise and have shown the biggest jump since the time of launch. The chunk of Chrome users are those from Firefox which had a dismal performance these last 30 days. In fact, excepting a couple of months, the graph line for Firefox has been coming down since a year - the time when it hit its peak in July 2008. The strong gainer has been Internet Explorer. You can see the diverging I.E. and F.F. lines in the first figure on this page.

Google's free web browser Chrome and Opera

As mentioned above, the free web browser from Google has beaten the nifty Opera in the very first month of release; as per statistics of this web site. But will Chrome be an also ran just like Opera? That remains to be seen. I have a feeling that Chrome would find Firefox a stronger competitor than Internet Explorer. It may also happen that Internet Explorer's share would continue to lessen with Firefox and Chrome increasing in popularity. However, Chrome has beaten Opera hands down. Google needs to spin some magic to make Chrome more popular - offer some features that set it apart from the rest especially Internet Explorer if they are targeting the share of the world's most popular web browser. Or Chrome might go the Opera way - a small sized great looking browser with tons of features (they are the ones who introduced tabs).

Too many questions and too early to say anything. Let us wait and watch.

Update

June 8, 2009

Chrome shows highest gain since launch. Firefox loses a big slice to Internet Explorer. Are we seeing a revival of the native Windows web browser? We should expect some interesting things in the future when Windows 7 comes out. However, a clear trend is surely emerging - the browser war in the future will have three players I.E., F.F. and Chrome. Today it seems unlikely that Chrome will be able to fight with the biggies but I have faith in my trusted and recommend browser.

March 2, 2009

Looking at the graphs 6 months after the release of Google Chrome web browser it does seem that the majority of its users have migrated from Firefox. Firefox usage on Windows seems to show a gradual decrease which is so much in contrast to the ever climbing line we were used to. The gap between Internet Explorer and Firefox is also the same.

Browser poll

Check below for the current poll we are conducting. It's heartening to know Chrome users voting for their browser. So which one do you think is the best? Vote for it please!