Chrome continues to trounce Firefox in desktop browser market

Google's Chrome keeps gaining in popularity over rival Firefox, which has failed to garner much in the way of users as seen in Web traffic numbers recorded by Net applications.

For the month of June, Chrome's share of Web traffic across the world rose to 27.2 percent from 26.3 percent in May, 25.6 in April and 24.9 in March. During the past year, Chrome's share has shown a significant rise from the 19.3 percent in June 2014.

Firefox's ride has been less cheerful. In June, Mozilla's browser grabbed a Web traffic share of 12 percent, up slightly from 11.8 percent in May and 11.7 percent in April. Over time, though, Firefox's share has actually fallen. Its June 2014 share of Web traffic was 15.5 percent, according to Net Applications.

Why the rise for Chrome? Google's browser has long been considered cleaner and less bloated than Microsoft's Internet Explorer and even Mozilla's Firefox. By default, Chrome eschews menu bars, toolbars and other items that chew up valuable screen real estate. Mozilla has tried to follow the trend of a less bloated browser with its most recent releases, yet Chrome continues to edge up in the ratings as Google keeps fine-tuning its browser. Chrome also offers quicker access to Gmail, built-in language translation, integration with Chrome apps and other features that likely appeal to Google users.

And what of Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

IE is still at the top of the pack, with a 58.1 percent share of Web traffic for June, up slightly from 57.8 in May. Over time, IE's share has been relatively flat, according to Net Applications, as the real battle has been between Chrome and Firefox. But despite its dominant market share, IE is getting long in the tooth and even Microsoft seems to be losing faith in it. The Windows 10 operating system, which arrives for consumers at the end of July, will offer an alternative browser called Edge .

Designed to be sleeker, faster and less burdened by add-ons and extensions, Edge is being touted by Microsoft as one of the draws for Windows 10. Oh, Internet Explorer will still be around in Windows 10, and will probably still hang onto a hefty number of users. But it although it has been getting a cleaner, more streamlined look in recent updates, IE could use a good overhaul at this point if Microsoft still wants to keep it relevant.

Among specific browser versions, Internet Explorer 11 was tops last month with a Web traffic share of 27 percent, followed by Chrome version 43 with 17.5 percent and the aging IE 8 with 13.5 percent.

Net Applications' stats differ from those of other Web trackers. StatCounter, for example, has long shown Chrome dominating over IE, Firefox and the rest of the pack in Web traffic. Why the difference? Each Web tracker uses its own somewhat unique methods and sources to determine Web traffic data. For example, Net Applications counts unique visitors per day rather than page views and has a stronger presence in certain countries than do other Web trackers.