Google has taken the aggressive step of advising some of the people using its Gmail webmail to use Chrome or Firefox rather than Internet Explorer.
When users log into their Gmail using Internet Explorer a red text link appears at the top right of the page saying ‘get faster Google Mail.’
If you click on the link then you are taken through to a Google answers page that suggests that you should use a faster browser.
The suggestions it makes are Google’s own Chrome browser or Firefox 3.0.
We suggest you upgrade
“Browsers are getting faster and better at running web applications like Google Mail that use browser technology to its limits. In order to get the best Google Mail experience possible, we suggest that you upgrade your browser to one of the fastest Google Mail supported browsers that work on Windows,” reads the text.
There is a proviso that IE8 is being worked on ‘Note: A faster version of Internet Explorer, IE8, is in development and available in a beta release.’
Although not all users appear to be affected in our early investigation, at first glance it is a particularly aggressive approach from Google.
To actively push two browsers over the currently dominant Internet Explorer is far from the normal Google softly, softly approach – especially in a week where Internet Explorer has been beset by news of a major security problem.
It seems, however, that Google is only pushing users to the other browsers if they are currently using Internet Explorer 7. Those that are using Internet Explorer 6 are told to upgrade to either Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 for a faster Google service.
Whether this is a silly overview on Google’s part or an active push away from Internet Explorer by the search kings remains to be seen.
What is for sure, is that Google is sending out mixed messages to its users, depending on what version of browser they are using.
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Google has launched an effort to make it possible for developers to offer ad-blocking and other extensions for Chrome, a move that would give the Google Web browser the same level of customization as Mozilla Firefox.
The ability to install third-party applications that add capabilities chosen by users, but not provided by Mozilla, is a key reason for the open source browser’s popularity. Google is apparently borrowing from that playbook in proposing the extension system to Chromium, the open source project behind the development of Chrome.
Google’s proposal was introduced over the weekend in a blog post from Aaron Boodman, a Google programmer working on Chrome. The design document outlines areas that would have to be addressed, such as application programming interfaces to connect extensions to the Chrome engine.
Under the heading “use cases,” Google lists some types of extensions that the company would like to support in Chrome, such as ad and flash blockers. Google makes its money from selling Web advertising but has decided not to ignore two of the most popular Firefox extensions. Other third-party apps Google says it would support include bookmarking/navigation tools, download helpers, and privacy and parental controls.
Having an add-on system from Chrome tops users’ wish list. “If I can’t even add a third-party extension, this browser won’t stay long on my computer,” one person wrote on the Chromium forum.
Google did not set a timetable for releasing an extension system for Chrome, but the design documentation for Chromium developers indicates the search engine has already started to work on the technology.
Google designed Chrome to be lightweight and fast, to have a minimalist user interface, and to resist crashing under have JavaScript demands of Web applications. While a reviewer for InformationWeek believes Google has largely met its goal, not having an extension system gives rival Firefox the upper hand. Microsoft also doesn’t provide an open extension system for Internet Explorer.
Extensions give users more choices in customizing the browser to meet their needs, while relieving the browser maker from having to add a lot of features that can hinder performance. Internet Explorer accounts for more than 70% of the browser market, followed by Firefox with almost 20%. Chrome, which is in beta, has less than 1%.
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Chrome’s share of the browser market is fading as users who abandoned Internet Explorer and Firefox start to return, an Internet measurement company said today.
At the end of its third week of availability, Google Inc.’s Chrome accounted for 0.77% of the browsers that visited the 40,000 sites tracked by Net Applications, down from a 0.85% share the week before.
“The trend line on Chrome still has a slight downward angle, and these weekly numbers reflect that,” said Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications’ executive vice president of marketing. Although Chrome popped above 1% within hours of its release, the new browser now reaches that mark only in the middle of the night, U.S. time, Vizzaccaro added.
Chrome’s numbers, like those of Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox and Apple Inc.’s Safari, typically climb after work hours and then fall as work resumes the next day. Many businesses standardize on Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer (IE) and don’t allow employees to use alternate browsers.
IE and Firefox still showed share erosion compared to the period immediately before Chrome’s Sept. 2 debut, but both browsers regained users last week, Vizzaccaro said. IE picked up 0.24 percentage points last week, while Firefox regained 0.06 points. Both, however, remained down for the month, as was Opera Software ASA’s Opera and AOL LLC’s now-defunct Netscape.
Safari, the only browser to escape Chrome’s impact, was still on the plus side for September, ending last week up 0.45 percentage points before Chrome, although that was down from the prior week’s 0.68-point net gain.
Last week, Vizzaccaro said Safari’s immunity could be traced to the lack of Chrome competition. Although Google has promised a native Mac OS X edition, its browser is currently only available for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Computerworld’s site metrics echoed Net Applications’ trend for Chrome. The percentage of visitors to Computerworld.com who used Google’s browser dropped to 4.01 points last week, down from 4.96 points.
Chrome’s slow slide may be because of Google’s low-key promotion, Vizzaccaro said. “The only marketing effort I’ve seen from Google is in sponsored links on search results for ‘browser’ or ‘browsers’ search terms,” he said. “On Google, Chrome is naturally the top sponsored link. On Yahoo, it was second. And on Windows Live, I couldn’t even find it in the first five pages of organic results.”
| Week starting |
Aug. 24 |
Aug. 31 |
Sept. 7 |
Sept. 15 |
Net Change |
| IE |
72.39% |
71.03% |
71.24% |
71.48% |
-0.91% |
| Firefox |
19.54% |
19.78% |
19.35% |
19.42% |
-0.13% |
| Safari |
6.27% |
6.67% |
6.95% |
6.73% |
0.45% |
| Chrome |
—– |
0.67% |
0.85% |
0.77% |
0.77% |
| Opera |
0.74% |
0.75% |
0.70% |
0.68% |
-0.06% |
| Netscape |
0.77% |
0.83% |
0.67% |
0.66% |
-0.11% |
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Google has taken the aggressive step of advising some of the people using its Gmail webmail to use Chrome or Firefox rather than Internet Explorer.
