Google Chrome is having a good run and now for the first time, it has managed to overtake Firefox. In the month of November, Chrome also managed to close the gap with current market leader Microsoft Internet Explorer. The findings have been made public by StatCounter, a web analytics firm. The company said, “We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally.”

Google Chrome currently commands e5.7 percent of the market share, about double of the share it had a year ago. However, Microsoft Internet Explorer faced decline in its market share. The browser currently has 40.6 percent market share whereas its market share, a year ago, stood at 48.2 percent.

Firefox also showed decline in its market share. The browser which is popular mainly in Europe, is now down to 25.2 percent of market share. A year back, it commanded 1.2 percent market share. The distant fourth position is occupied by Apple’s Safari browser, with 5.9 percent market share. Opera captured the fifth spot with 1.8 percent of the market pie.

StatCounter made these findings on the basis of data collected from more than 15 billion page views per month. The firm used more than   million websites for this purpose.