Feb 13 2007

Firefox vs IE in Australia

Published by at 7:08 pm under .com.au,Australia,Australian Websites,browsers,directory,dLook,firefox,Google Analytics,IE7,Internet Explorer

This post from North x East quotes figures from Onestat.com which indicates that Firefox has almost a 27% market penetration in Australia

“The most popular browsers in Australia are:

 

    January 2007
1. Microsoft IE 65.71%
2. Mozilla Firefox 26.68%
3. Opera 4.28%
4. Apple Safari 1.77%
5. Netscape 0.24%”

Australian IT (also mentioned by Andrew Pascoe) had a recent article saying that Nielsen found, in 2006, that Firefox accounted for 22% of the Australian browser market.

Firstly, I love Firefox and use it 98% of the time. Even with the new tabs I don’t think Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) can match Firefox for speed, ease of use or functionality.

What confuses me is where do these statistics come from? As you may well know I run two Australian websites. We have both server statistics and Google Analytics to monitor visitors to the site. Google Analytics tracks “Web Design Parameters” (under the “Content Optimisation” tab, if you’re looking for it) which includes browser versions.

Now I had a look at these statistics for dLook – an Australian Business Directory, which I imagine would attract a broad cross section of Australian users (and 98% of visitors to the site are Australian). For the year (2007) to date, Analytics tells me that 86.5% of visitors to the site use Internet Explorer and 10.15% use Firefox (and Safari 2.61%).

On closer examination, IE 7 has achieved a market share of 18.87% of the total visitors (and 22.09% of all IE users). Looking at 2006 at no stage has Firefox crept over 10% saturation. The back end stats are roughly the same for IE vs Firefox (although it doesn’t drill down to version number).

I’d be really interested to see what other website owners (particularly in Australia) are showing for browser usage in their backend stats? Am I alone in showing that Firefox has nowhere near the Australian penetration reported?

On another note, you might see a couple of banners now in the sidebar. This is my shameless attempt at self promotion (and also the only form of advertising on this site). If you’re in Australia and you haven’t checked out dLook – why not give it a go?

13 responses so far

13 Responses to “Firefox vs IE in Australia”

  1. # pascoeon 13 Feb 2007 at 8:18 pm

    One of the reasons for the difference might be the Nielsen data (which comes from their “Australian internet & technology report”) comes from consumers’ own reported behaviour, compared to the ‘observed’ behaviour that analytics packages provide.

  2. # Megon 13 Feb 2007 at 9:53 pm

    Well there’s an objective measure 😉

  3. # Andrewon 14 Feb 2007 at 8:55 am

    So that means more people are falling for the Myths in Australia? And I like Aussies. Get the facts: http://www.FirefoxMyths.com

  4. # Megon 14 Feb 2007 at 9:36 am

    Well, the mainstream press are reporting the myth about market penetration, but the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” has always been alive and well in this country.

    As for usability functions, these are reported from this user’s personal experience not from any “Myths”.

    Thanks for the link, though. Interesting…..

  5. # Donnie Lamon 14 Feb 2007 at 11:28 am

    Interesting!

    Accure seems to be close to the national penetration rate for Mozilla.

    2006 – 19.5%
    2007 (so far) – 25.2%

  6. # Megon 14 Feb 2007 at 12:59 pm

    Hi Donnie

    Wow!

    Do you think your “average” visitor might be more “technically savvy”?

  7. # Craigon 14 Feb 2007 at 5:07 pm

    Hi Meg,

    Most of the stat’s I see on browser breakdown are heavily influenced by audience demographic.

    Some of the tech blogs I read have up to 85% Firefox, whereas most consumer sites appear to hover at 10-20%. The more “portal” orientated the lower the percentage too. While not an aussie domain(or host), so I don’t get any google au love – my techish blog is 65% Firefox and 30% IE while my personal blog is 77% IE and 19% Firefox.

    FWIW, I just had a look at Darren Rowse’s Religious livingroom.com.au/blog and his sitemeter reports 84% IE and 17% Firefox.

    You could google for other open .au sitemeter sites for comparison if your not as lazy as I am…

  8. # Megon 14 Feb 2007 at 5:19 pm

    Hi Craig

    Thanks for reporting those stats. Yes I can see how it’s particularly dependent on the audience demographic.

    I just think that if the media are going to quote trends, then they ought to be across the spectrum, rather than a skewed demographic.

    I might just do that Google search…when I’m feeling motivated 😉

  9. # Beckyon 16 Feb 2007 at 11:57 am

    I don’t see how anyone could possibly prefer IE over Firefox.

    Since I flunked statistics I will not comment on the particulars except to say I think this also shows that Aussies Rock!

    ~Becky

  10. # Megon 16 Feb 2007 at 1:45 pm

    Hey Becky

    Thanks for dropping in. I think people from Massachusetts rock too 😉

  11. # Davidon 17 Mar 2007 at 10:48 pm

    So far this year, we’ve had 76% IE users, 19% Firefox users, 4% Safari users and 1% comprised of Opera, Netscape, etc.

    This is for webmenu.com.au, which has 99% of its users from Adelaide and content relating to restaurants.

  12. # Megon 17 Mar 2007 at 11:10 pm

    Hi David

    Thanks for feeding back those stats – they are showing closer to what Onestat and Neilsen reported.

    I had another look at both dLook and Obits. Funnily Obits is showing a bit higher on Firefox usage than dLook. Obits is running a bit over 11% whereas dLook just over 10.

    But dLook Dating is showing 30.8% Firefox, which is very interesting.

    Cheers, and good luck with webmenu :)

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