Google Chrome has taken the lead from Microsoft Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser in the US for the first time. Internet Explorer has been king of the hill for quite some time but the lack of a mobile application seems to have hurt Microsoft's standing; users tend to want a more consistent web browser experience opting for the same product between desktop and mobile.

According to the ADI report from Adobe, Google now commands a 31.8% market share—desktop and mobile, combined—which is up 6% year-over-year (YoY). IE sits at 30.9%, down by 6% YoY, while Apple’s Safari, thanks to its vast mobile presence, is the third most popular browser, with a 25% share.

“Control of the browser gives Google an even greater role in consumers’ lives,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst at ADI. “Not only do the Chrome and Android browsers both default to Google search, but with their Gmail and Google+ extensions, consumers are spending more and more time signed into Google’s ecosystem.”



Mozilla's Firefox browser—which consistently held a minor, yet steady, position—declined from nearly 20% market share two years ago to only 8.7% in April. According to ADI, this decline is likely due to its lack of mobile presence.

ADI’s report is based on aggregate and anonymous data across retail, media, entertainment, financial service, and travel Web sites. Adobe Analytics was used to detect the browsers for 17 billion visits to 10,000 U.S. consumer-facing Web sites in April 2014, and more than 1 trillion visits since 2008. (Note: Adobe is CMO.com's parent company.) Market share figures represent the share of visits from each browser for the average U.S. Web site.