Chrome helps Firefox top IE across Europe

Firefox has edged out Internet Explorer as the top browser in Europe, according to StatCounter.

Across Europe as of last month, Firefox now holds a 38.11% share, a shade more than IE’s 37.52%, the statistics firm said.

While Mozilla will likely welcome the news, it owes the top spot to Google Chrome.

Firefox itself is down slightly from 40.8% at the end of 2009, while IE has fallen from 44.84%. Microsoft appears to have lost share to Chrome, which is up to 14.58% from 5.06% over the same period.

“This is the first time that IE has been dethroned from the number one spot in a major territory,” said Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter. “This appears to be happening because Google’s Chrome is stealing share from Internet Explorer while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share.”

That trend doesn’t follow in the UK, where IE remains by far the most popular browser with 50.37%, and Chrome’s 16.52% looks set to challenge Firefox’s 23.35% before either can eye Microsoft’s top spot.

As IE retains the lead in the US, Cullen attributed the European-wide gain to the EU browser ballot, which sees alternatives to IE advertised to users following competition complaints.

“We are probably seeing the impact of the agreement between European Commission competition authorities and Microsoft, to offer EU users a choice and menu of browsers from March last,” added Cullen.

However, Chrome has probably also been boosted by Google’s aggressive advertising campaign.