September 23, 2008 2:07PM  |
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The shine is gone as some Google Chrome users return to Internet Explorer and Firefox just three weeks after the Chrome browser’s launch. Net Applications found Chrome use down substantially from the first week of its release. Google’s Chrome drew fire from privacy advocates for its data collection. IE remained the dominant Web browser.
 They’re back. Microsoft ‘s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox lost some users with the debut of Google’s Chrome browser, but they are returning. Just three weeks after its launch, Chrome is seen as not so polished and is losing some users, according to Net Applications, an Internet tracking company.Net Applications tracked 40,000 sites and found that Chrome made up .77 percent of the browsers visiting the sites, down from .85 percent last week. And down substantially from 1.4 percent in the first week of its release, according to Nielsen Online.Chrome’s numbers, like those of Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari, increase after working hours and then fall as employees hit their desks the next day. When Chrome debuted on Sept. 2, Google described it as a browser that “combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the Web faster, safer and easier.” Not Reaching Its Goal Web browsers, which were developed before there was a demand for video and music content, are evolving. Google wanted to be part of that evolution and set out to give users a faster and secure browser, but instead was hit with concerns from privacy advocates. Just days after its launch, privacy advocates were warning users about Chrome. They said keystrokes were being collected with the browser’s auto-suggest feature. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Electronics Privacy Information Center cited Chrome’s Omnibox, which collects and stores user data on its servers. One way around that is by turning off the auto-suggest feature or using a search engine other than Google. To address the situation, Google began anonymizing its data on Sept. 12. But Google may need to do more to make Chrome shine. Competitors Shine A report Tuesday from Net Applications showed Internet Explorer commanded 72.15 percent of the browser market, Firefox followed with nearly 20 percent, and Apple’s Safari was in third with 6.37 percent. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer regained lost users last week, according to Net Applications. Internet Explorer’s users increased .24 percentage points while Firefox regained .06 points. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox, however, were down for the month. Opera Software’s Opera and AOL’s now-defunct Netscape were also down. Safari, the only browser not affected by Chrome, was still on the plus side for September, ending last week up 0.45 percentage points before Chrome, although that was down from the previous week’s 0.68-point net gain. |
