Three Reasons Why Firefox is Losing Ground to Internet Explorer

Browser battles are almost as heated as platform wars and the two clashing titans have long been Firefox and Internet Explorer. For some time, Firefox seemed to be inching ever closer to parity with Microsoft’s web browser, but the most recent numbers show that IE8 is scoring victories left and right. Gobbling up a 60.3 percent market share at the end of June, Internet Explorer is on a steady up and up while Firefox waned away down to 23.8 percent. That’s still a hefty slice of the pie for a challenger browser, but it’s Mozilla’s biggest loss in market share since May 2009, according to Computerworld. So, why is Firefox falling out of vogue? Here are three key reasons:

Windows 7 is a Smash Hit

Windows 7 has been a smashing comeback from the slump that was Windows Vista. And as the Windows 7 PCs fly off the shelf, so too does IE8. IE8 is bundled as the default browser with all Windows 7 machines, and many users are opting to go with the flow, rather than install a third-party alternative.

Microsoft on the Advertising Offensive

Microsoft has been working hard on the advertising front, with their Windows 7 ads that easily outperformed the headscratchingly awkward Seinfeld/Gates ads and the all new “Confidence” campaign. While not quite as irresistible as Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ads, Microsoft seems to have hit its stride in terms of television presence.

Scrappy Competition

Firefox is still the kind of browser alternatives, but it’s gaining more challengers to the throne. Google Chrome has been pilfering a fair amount of Firefox’s market share and Apple’s Safari recently made its way onto Windows machines, further upping the competition. Meanwhile, Opera is quietly gaining steam in the background as well. While Firefox still has a much bigger user base than Chrome and Opera combined, these browsers are now being taken seriously as an everyday, full functioning browser, which allows for some shades of gray between the black and white decision of IE vs. Firefox.

While it’s far from curtains for Firefox, it does seem that many web users are reconsidering Internet Explorer. Overall, however, this seems more like a win for Internet Explorer than a loss for Firefox, which appears to be treading water currently, pending its next big development.

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