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A rough estimation of usage share of layout engines/web browsers
Usage share, in web browser statistics, is the percentage of visitors to a group of web sites that use a particular browser. For example, when it is said that Internet Explorer has 81% usage share, it means that Internet Explorer is used by 81%[1] of visitors that visit a given set of sites. Typically, the user agent string is used to identify which browser a visitor is using.
Note that measuring browser usage in terms of the number of requests (page hits) made by each user agent can be misleading. Not all requests are generated by a user, as a user agent can make requests at regular time intervals without user input. In this case, the usage of that user agent would then be overestimated. Some examples:
- A web browser that refreshes the webpage at a regular time interval.
- A feed reader that requests the RSS/Atom feed at a regular time interval.
- Extra files like CSS hacks and JavaScript hacks are often sent to Internet Explorer.
- Gecko based browsers (such as Firefox) can link prefetch web pages, increasing hits. Link prefetching in Gecko based browsers is used on pages with enhanced markup, including Google search results.[2]
It is also possible to underestimate the usage share by the using the number of requests, for example:
- A graphical browser typically results in more hits than a text browser, as it downloads files referred to by the HTML document (e.g., image, CSS, and JavaScript).
- A computer with more memory will likely cache more webpages in memory, resulting in fewer requests.
- Many Browsers and Download managers spoof a different user agent string to the Web server to prevent erroneous/malicious browser sniffing which could result in receiving broken/incompatible code, or being completely blocked, thus increasing the statistics for other browsers (as an example, prior to version 9, the Opera web browser had "Identify as Internet Explorer" as the default user setting)
- Most recent browsers block third-party spyware.
- Text/audio-based browsers don't download any webbugs at all.
- Privacy-enhancing proxies like privoxy are getting widely deployed by security-conscious sysadmins.
- Gecko based browsers since Firefox 1.5 and Opera uses fast DOM caching. JavaScript is only executed on pageload from net or disk cache, but not if it is loaded from DOM cache. This can have an impact on JavaScript based tracking of browser statistics.[1]
A more accurate estimate of the number individual people visiting a web site can be made by considering unique IP address and cookies in addition to page hits.
Global usage share data from: TheCounter.com Global Statistics
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
Mozilla / Netscape |
Opera |
Safari |
Source |
| Q3 2007 |
81.63% |
0.06% |
13.49% |
0.66% |
3.00% |
Jul 2007, Aug 2007, Sep 2007 |
| Q2 2007 |
82.97% |
0.06% |
12.41% |
0.64% |
2.87% |
Apr 2007, May 2007, Jun 2007 |
| Q1 2007 |
83.69% |
0.06% |
11.57% |
0.57% |
2.92% |
Jan 2007, Feb 2007, Mar 2007 |
| Q4 2006 |
84.11% |
0.05% |
11.13% |
0.60% |
2.80% |
Nov 2006, Dec 2006 |
| Q3 2006 |
84.48% |
0.06% |
10.56% |
0.73% |
2.27% |
Jul 2006, Aug 2006, Sep 2006 |
| Q2 2006 |
86.32% |
0.05% |
9.03% |
0.70% |
1.89% |
Apr 2006, May 2006, Jun 2006 |
| Q1 2006 |
90.01% |
0.05% |
6.77% |
0.58% |
1.40% |
Jan 2006, Feb 2006, Mar 2006 |
| Q4 2005 |
87.25% |
0.07% |
8.60% |
0.71% |
1.83% |
Oct 2005, Nov 2005, Dec 2005 |
| Q3 2005 |
87.58% |
0.07% |
8.42% |
0.67% |
1.60% |
Jul 2005, Aug 2005, Sep 2005 |
| Q2 2005 |
90.90% |
0.09% |
6.02% |
0.51% |
0.99% |
Apr 2005, May 2005, Jun 2005 |
| Q1 2005 |
90.77% |
0.11% |
5.73% |
0.54% |
1.00% |
Jan 2005, Feb 2005, Mar 2005 |
| Q4 2004 |
90.98% |
0.18% |
5.10% |
0.68% |
0.77% |
Oct 2004, Nov 2004, Dec 2004 |
| Q3 2004 |
92.70% |
0.20% |
3.57% |
0.65% |
0.73% |
Jul 2004, Aug 2004, Sep 2004 |
| Q2 2004 |
95.04% |
0.32% |
2.37% |
0.51% |
0.67% |
Apr 2004, May 2004, Jun 2004 |
| Q1 2004 |
94.28% |
0.36% |
2.70% |
0.52% |
|
Jan 2004, Feb 2004, Mar 2004 |
| Q2 2003 |
94.43% |
1.45% |
2.22% |
0.66% |
|
Apr 2003, May 2003, Jun 2003 |
| Q1 2003 |
94.18% |
1.77% |
2.15% |
0.65% |
|
Jan 2003, Feb 2003, Mar 2003 |
| Q4 2002 |
93.94% |
2.31% |
1.67% |
0.83% |
|
Oct 2002, Nov 2002, Dec 2002 |
| Q3 2002 |
93.32% |
3.04% |
1.36% |
0.94% |
|
Jul 2002, Aug 2002, Sep 2002 |
| Q2 2002 |
92.47% |
4.13% |
1.13% |
0.82% |
|
Apr 2002, May 2002, Jun 2002 |
| Q1 2002 |
92.40% |
4.67% |
0.93% |
0.52% |
|
Jan 2002, Feb 2002, Mar 2002 |
| Q4 2001 |
90.83% |
5.23% |
0.71% |
0.36% |
|
Oct 2001, Nov 2001, Dec 2001 |
| Q3 2001 |
88.43% |
6.49% |
0.26% |
0.31% |
|
Jul 2001, Aug 2001, Sep 2001 |
| Q2 2001 |
87.99% |
7.46% |
0.27% |
0.28% |
|
Apr 2001, May 2001, Jun 2001 |
| Q1 2001 |
86.80% |
9.84% |
0.30% |
0.22% |
|
Jan 2001, Feb 2001, Mar 2001 |
| Q4 2000 |
83.95% |
12.61% |
0.14% |
0.14% |
|
Oct 2000, Nov 2000, Dec 2000 |
| Q3 2000 |
82.76% |
14.35% |
0.04% |
0.14% |
|
Jul 2000, Aug 2000, Sep 2000 |
| Q2 2000 |
80.30% |
17.54% |
0.02% |
0.12% |
|
Apr 2000, May 2000, Jun 2000 |
| Q1 2000 |
79.09% |
19.25% |
0.00% |
0.13% |
|
Jan 2000, Feb 2000, Mar 2000 |
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
Mozilla / Netscape |
Opera |
Safari |
Source |
Global usage share data from OneStat.com
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
Netscape |
Mozilla |
Opera |
Safari |
Source |
| June 2007 |
84.66% |
|
0.11% |
12.72% |
0.61% |
1.79% |
2007-07-02 |
| January 2007 |
85.81% |
|
0.13% |
11.69% |
0.58% |
1.64% |
2007-01-22 |
| November 2006 |
85.24% |
|
0.11% |
12.15% |
0.69% |
1.61% |
2006-11-06 |
| October 2006 |
85.85% |
|
0.12% |
11.49% |
0.69% |
1.61% |
2006-10-09 |
| July 2006 |
83.05% |
|
0.16% |
12.93% |
1.00% |
1.84% |
2006-07-09 |
| May 2006 |
85.17% |
|
0.15% |
11.79% |
0.79% |
2.02% |
2006-05-15 |
| January 2006 |
85.82% |
|
0.16% |
11.23% |
0.77% |
1.88% |
2006-01-31 |
| November 2, 2005 |
85.45% |
|
0.26% |
11.51% |
0.77% |
1.75% |
2005-11-02 |
| April 27, 2005 |
86.63% |
|
1.08% |
8.69% |
1.03% |
1.26% |
2005-04-27 |
| February 28, 2005 |
87.28% |
|
1.11% |
8.45% |
1.09% |
1.21% |
2005-02-28 |
| November 22, 2004 |
88.90% |
|
|
7.35% |
1.33% |
0.91% |
2004-11-22 |
| May 28, 2004 |
93.9% |
|
|
2.1% |
1.02% |
0.71% |
2004-05-28 |
| January 19, 2004 |
94.8% |
|
|
1.8% |
0.8% |
0.48% |
2004-01-19 |
| July 28, 2003 |
95.4% |
0.6% |
1.9% |
1.6% |
0.6% |
0.25% |
2003-07-28 |
| February 3, 2003 |
95.2% |
1.0% |
1.9% |
1.2% |
0.7% |
0.11% |
2003-02-03 |
| December 16, 2002 |
95.0% |
1.1% |
1.9% |
1.1% |
0.8% |
|
2002-12-16 |
| September 30, 2002 |
94.9% |
1.2% |
1.8% |
0.8% |
0.9% |
|
2002-09-30 |
| June 21, 2002 |
95.3% |
1.9% |
1.5% |
0.4% |
0.7% |
|
2002-06-24 |
| April 29, 2002 |
96.6% |
2.1% |
0.7% |
|
0.5% |
|
2002-04-29 |
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
Netscape |
Mozilla |
Opera |
Safari |
Source |
- Note: W3 Counter only lists the top 10 Browsers by Version. This is one of the reasons why Opera fluctuates between 0.7% and 1.2% in the table below, as some versions only make it into the top 10 occasionally.
Global usage share data from: W3 Counter
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Mozilla 1.8 |
Mozilla Firefox |
Opera |
Safari |
Source |
| Dec 1, 2007 |
62.36% |
0.56% |
27.77% |
1.41% |
1.84% |
2007-12-01 |
| Nov 10, 2007 |
62.55% |
0.59% |
27.56% |
1.39% |
1.95% |
2007-11-10 |
| Oct 30, 2007 |
62.41% |
0.60% |
27.70% |
1.35% |
1.99% |
2007-10-30 |
| Oct 20, 2007 |
62.52% |
0.62% |
27.50% |
1.33% |
1.99% |
2007-10-20 |
| Oct 10, 2007 |
66.30% |
0.57% |
25.49% |
1.24% |
1.77% |
2007-10-10 |
| Oct 1, 2007 |
66.28% |
0.58% |
25.50% |
1.23% |
1.77% |
2007-10-1 |
| Sept 20, 2007 |
66.22% |
0.61% |
25.45% |
1.22% |
1.76% |
2007-09-20 |
| Sept 10, 2007 |
66.14% |
0.60% |
25.49% |
1.24% |
1.76% |
2007-09-10 |
| Aug 30, 2007 |
66.20% |
0.61% |
25.43% |
1.22% |
1.76% |
2007-08-30 |
| Aug 20, 2007 |
66.23% |
0.62% |
25.38% |
1.19% |
1.74% |
2007-08-20 |
| Aug 10, 2007 |
66.30% |
0.64% |
25.28% |
1.19% |
1.74% |
2007-08-10 |
| July 30, 2007 |
66.41% |
0.65% |
25.11% |
1.16% |
1.75% |
2007-07-30 |
| July 10, 2007 |
66.48% |
0.68% |
24.93% |
0.66% |
1.79% |
2007-07-10 |
| June 30, 2007 |
66.20% |
0.71% |
25.08% |
0.69% |
1.81% |
2007-06-30 |
| June 20, 2007 |
66.30% |
0.70% |
25.06% |
0.70% |
1.84% |
2007-06-20 |
| June 10, 2007 |
66.48% |
0.69% |
24.86% |
0.72% |
1.86% |
2007-06-10 |
| May 30, 2007 |
66.69% |
0.73% |
24.55% |
1.22% |
1.85% |
2007-05-30 |
| May 20, 2007 |
66.36% |
0.66% |
24.82% |
1.28% |
1.94% |
2007-05-20 |
| May 10, 2007 |
66.50% |
0.62% |
24.62% |
0.78% |
2.00% |
2007-05-10 |
USA usage share data from: WebSideStory
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Mozilla / Netscape |
Mozilla Firefox |
Source |
| June 2006 |
86.64% |
|
9.95% |
July 19, 2006 |
| January 5, 2006 |
87.63% |
|
8.88% |
Jan. 12, 2006 |
| November 4, 2005 |
88.16% |
1.61% |
8.13% |
November 10, 2005 |
| September 23, 2005 |
88.46% |
1.69% |
7.86% |
September 27, 2005 |
| April 29, 2005 |
88.86% |
2.23% |
6.75% |
May 10, 2005 |
| February 18, 2005 |
89.85% |
2.47% |
5.69% |
Feb. 28, 2005 |
| January 14, 2005 |
90.28% |
2.64% |
4.95% |
| December 3, 2004 |
91.80% |
2.83% |
4.06% |
| November 5, 2004 |
92.89% |
2.95% |
3.03% |
| October 8, 2004 |
93.21% |
3.05% |
2.66% |
December 13, 2004 |
| June 4, 2004 |
95.48% |
3.53% |
|
| August 26, 2002 |
95.97% |
3.39% |
|
August 28, 2002 |
| October 25, 2001 |
89.03% |
10.47% |
|
October 31, 2001 |
| April 25, 2001 |
86.61% |
13.10% |
|
May 1, 2001 |
| February 21, 2001 |
87.71% |
12.01% |
|
February 22, 2001 |
| June 18, 2000 |
86.08% |
13.90% |
|
| August 2, 1999 |
75.31% |
24.68% |
|
August 9, 1999 |
| April 6, 1999 |
68.75% |
29.46% |
|
April 7, 1999 |
| March 1, 1999 |
66.90% |
31.21% |
|
March 2, 1999 |
| February 8, 1999 |
64.60% |
33.43% |
|
February 22, 2001 |
| Date |
Internet Explorer |
Mozilla / Netscape |
Mozilla Firefox |
Source |
Usage share data from: EWS Web Server at UIUC
| Date |
Mosaic |
Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
Source |
| Q4 1998 |
|
50.43% |
46.87% |
Oct 1998, Nov 1998, Dec 1998 |
| Q3 1998 |
|
47.90% |
48.97% |
Jul 1998, Aug 1998, Sep 1998 |
| Q2 1998 |
|
43.17% |
53.57% |
Apr 1998, May 1998, Jun 1998 |
| Q1 1998 |
|
39.67% |
57.63% |
Jan 1998, Feb 1998, Mar 1998 |
| Q4 1997 |
|
35.53% |
62.23% |
Oct 1997, Nov 1997, Dec 1997 |
| Q3 1997 |
|
32.40% |
64.93% |
Jul 1997, Aug 1997, Sep 1997 |
| Q2 1997 |
0.37% |
27.67% |
69.77% |
Apr 1997, May 1997, Jun 1997 |
| Q1 1997 |
0.60% |
22.87% |
74.33% |
Jan 1997, Feb 1997, Mar 1997 |
| Q4 1996 |
1.20% |
19.07% |
77.13% |
Oct 1996, Nov 1996, Dec 1996 |
| Q3 1996 |
2.47% |
13.97% |
80.37% |
Jul 1996, Aug 1996, Sep 1996 |
| Q2 1996 |
6.93% |
9.60% |
82.77% |
Apr 1996, May 1996, Jun 1996 |
- Chuck Upsdell's Browser Stats lists web stats from many different stats sources and gives the approximate current usage share of the most popular layout engines.
- W3Schools' Browser Statistics lists the web stats only from the W3 Schools site, which gives the approximate usage share of browsers among "people with an interest for web technologies."
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