The absolute dominance of Google Chrome, in one chart
While many of us associate Google with its dominance in search, it's easy to undersell just how many facets of our digital lives the company controls. Take, for instance, its Chrome browser. A little under nine years into its existence, Chrome is still far and away the most-used web browser in the world, according to StatCounter data charted for us by Statista.
Part of that is due to network effects: Google gave Android away for free, Android is now the most popular operating system in the world, and Chrome, which comes pre-installed on Android devices, reaped the benefits.
But it also comes down to quality: Microsoft actively discourages Windows users from downloading Chrome, but that hasn't stopped Google from dominating on the desktop, either. Chrome isn't the sexy alternative it was when Internet Explorer was the norm, but apparently it's still good enough to keep people from leaving entirely.
All of this is worth keeping in mind when Google implements a native ad filter into Chrome next year. Google says that'll only weed out the worst of the worst ads, but it's expected to have little effect on most of Google's own sites and ads.
