Browser Market Share is in the Eye of the Beholder - craigsevensis

Sooner this month Net Applications released web browser share numbers showing a slight decline for Internet Explorer, but still nearly threefold the market share of bit station Firefox. New numbers from StatCounter, however, show Explorer below 50 percent and Firefox with more than 30 percent. Monthly browser marketplace share results can be quicksilver and motley widely contingent the methodology behind the statistics.

How can one source claim that Internet IE is essentially at 60 percent market portion out, while another source claims a calendar week later that it has fallen below 50 per centum? How can one statistic present that Firefox has just under 23 percent, piece another statistic places Firefox market share at 31.5 percent? Comparison the gap betwixt the number one and number ii browsers from the two sources shows dramatically diverse results–dynamic the market share gap in half.

The respond is that statistics rely on the information used to gather the data, and that results can be shaped to develop a desired effect. Sources such as Net Applications and StatCounter have to apply certain rules and filters to the information that is poised systematic to get an accurate picture of browser usage. The confusing part is that the two–and any other browser statisticians out there–Don't necessarily agree on what those filters should be, or what an high-fidelity measure should include.

Net Applications explains its methodology in an FAQ on the website. "We collect information from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive connected-ask network of HitsLink Analytics and SharePost clients. The network includes over 40,000 websites, and spans the globe. We 'matter' unusual visitors to our network sites, and only count one unique visit to each mesh place per day. This is part of our caliber control process to prevent fraud, and see the well-nig true portrayal of Internet usage grocery share."

I did non find any similar explanation of browser market methodological analysis on the StatCounter site, so I can't provide any details tail where its results descend from, or analyze how they are different from Net Applications' methods. Suffice IT to say that the methodology is obviously different surgery there wouldn't be such a significant variance in the results reported.

Methodology is subjective and its hard to argue whether one method is "right-hand" or "better" than another. 1 matter that toilet help web browser percentage stats and trends seem more ordered is if you don't try to compare them to each other. While the departure in methodology for aggregation and analyzing browser usage data may vary between Sack up Applications and StatCounter, Net Applications uses the Lapp methodology every month, as does StatCounter. You can pick your toxicant for which methodology you feel is most valid, but then stick with it in rate to follow a valid usage style month to calendar month.