In Philippine market, Google Chrome edges out Firefox browser

More and more Filipinos have switched to the Internet browser Chrome, widening Google’s lead over Mozilla Firefox in the race to win over users.

Just three years since it was launched, the Google Chrome browser emerged as the top choice for more Filipino users, according to data for the month of August recently made public by statcounter.com.

“Three years ago, we launched Chrome to help spur innovation in the browser space. We built Chrome with a turbo-charged JavaScript engine to run cutting edge web applications, and we built in the latest HTML5 technologies,” the Silicon Valley-based company said in a statement.

“As a way to make all browsers better, we open-sourced Chrome so other browser vendors can use our technologies. As a result, the pace of innovation in browsers has greatly accelerated since Chrome came along.”

Based on Statcounter’s data, Chrome ended August with a market share of 51.7 percent, up from 50.11 percent a month earlier.

It edged out Firefox, which continued to languish with a share of 34.66 percent, down from 36.35 percent.

Only 10 percent of Filipino Internet users continue to use Microsoft’s default Internet Explorer, which has been criticized for its poor security features.

This latest data is a stark difference from the results in August last year, when Chrome had a share of just 24 percent, while Firefox enjoyed a comfortable lead with 53.02 percent of the market.

Having more people on a specific browser allows a company to reach more users which, for a tech company like Google that makes money by displaying advertisements, can mean larger revenue.

Google said tech savvy Filipinos have recognized the benefits that Chrome provides in terms of browsing.

Aside from simply letting users open web pages, browsers have also introduced new technologies in the past three years that have significantly changed the public’s behavior when online.

Modern browsers have adopted open web technologies like WebGL and 3D CSS, which allow web developers to create 3D effects and users to experience them without the hassle of installing and updating extra plug-ins.

A technique called hardware acceleration is also being used by web browsers today. This means that the browser can use the computer’s graphics processing unit to speed up the computations needed to display both 3D and everyday 2D web content, further enhancing the user experience.

“Because browsers are now so much more powerful, the developers who create web pages and online apps have more space for creativity than ever before. Now you can do virtually anything online that you used to do with desktop software,” Google said.—Paolo G. Montecillo