MANSI Media, Sept. 4

Chrome: Google’s latest browser venture

By Matthew Caylor, Account Executive, Interactive
MANSI Media
(717) 703-3040, matthewc@mansimedia.com

Google is at it again, this time making waves in the Internet browser world with the launch of a new open-source piece of software dubbed Chrome. The online behemoth has leveraged its knowledge of the online community (something it has been dutifully building since its inception 10 years ago), its expansive staff (inching up on 20,000 employees at last report) and the vast cash stores Google has at its disposal since the explosion of search engine marketing (and its continued growth) to create what Don Reisinger of TechCrunch described as, “Not only one of the fastest browsers I’ve ever used, it’s easily one of the best.”

As Google enters into the market it is useful to know how the landscape currently appears. The dominant Web browser in the market is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. IE has been on the market for over a decade and has been climbing to dominance through that time, peaking at 95% of the market shortly after the new millennium. Much of IE’s success can be attributed to Microsoft’s dominance in the market – since the program is bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system, it has been many users’ first experience with a browser. Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser was launched in 2004 and distinguishes itself from IE by being completely open-source. The second place contender in the browser wars rode the wave of popularity surrounding open-source software and received more acceptance as the number of experienced computer users has increased. Filling the third slot is Apple’s product, the Safari Web browser. Safari’s market penetration mirrors that of Apple Computers, which stood at 6.1% in 2007’s forth quarter, following Dell, HP and Acer.
(Soure: http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/01/17/reports-apple-slipped-to-4th-place-in-q4-us-sales/)

(Source: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/)

Will Chrome be able to capture a portion of the Web browser market share? Coming from the company that professes the humble goal of “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” we can safely assume that it will go just as big in the browser market.

Google’s new browser will be bringing some interesting elements to users:

• Tabs – Just as Firefox and IE 7 offer us tabs for navigation online, so will Chrome, but with an alteration. Chrome’s tabs will rest above the navigation bar to offer what they believe is a more streamlined and easier to use navigation. Also, each of the tabs will operate independently; if one tab crashes it will not shut down the entire browser.

• “Omnibox” – The address bar for Chrome will be enhanced, offering suggestions, previous pages visited and popular pages as the program attempts to match what you are typing.

• Homepage Navigation – The default homepage for Chrome will list your top nine visited homepages, recent searches and recently closed tabs.

• Incognito Mode – An option to surf in a privacy window where your activity is not logged or recorded. Some concern has been expressed by advertisers over a similar feature offered by IE 7 – if cookies are not logged and information is not tracked then it will become harder to perform behavioral targeting and deliver the precision clients are requesting.

• Faster, Cleaner Delivery of Web pages – The graph below represents speed testing conducted by CNET using Java Benchmarks. In each case Chrome trounced the competition.

(Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10030888-92.html)

Google has spelled out the features of its new browser (including its approach to add-ons and widgets) and the reasoning behind Chrome’s development in a comic book available at www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/. It is worth taking a few minutes to browse through and develop a clearer picture of the how and why.

What does Chrome mean for the newspaper industry?

• Our Webmasters have one more browser to which they must design and adapt their sites. If Google manages to capture a large share of the market (as they have done in search, mapping and a number of other fields) sites will have to be redesigned to ensure users are still receiving a proper display and that features continue to function as planned.

• Faster Web access is good for everyone. A user’s speed is related to their frustration on an inverse curve – the faster they can go, the happier they are. From early reports, Chrome is going to beat out the current competition.

• Better integration with rich media. Starting from scratch the Google development team has worked to make applications work better for users. Ideally this will simplify and enhance the online experience…it remains to be seen how flawlessly this execution occurs.

• The new homepage dashboard offers a greater opportunity for us to dig deeper into users’ lives. If they are frequent visitors to newspaper sites, finding daily updates, then there is a good chance newspapers will appear in their top nine. This presence will be a constant reminder to check back in with our service (hopefully driving up our page views and daily unique users).

• Incognito mode can hamper advertising efforts. If sites cannot post and collect cookie information about their users then it can become less effective in targeting. One of the strengths of online advertising is its targeting abilities – if that strength is removed it will weaken the medium as a whole.

• Open Source. The code for Chrome and its features will be made available for general use. Even if the browser fails, its successful options can live on in other products and improve the Web for everyone.

The net is abuzz with information about Chrome and its potential, but that is the effect of every new Google product. Only time will tell if the latest player in the browser wars will be successful, but one thing is for sure, Google will continue to expand its reach and grow its tool-kit that is available freely to users.

The Google Tool Kit:

• Google Earth – earth.google.com/ – A simple way to explore the world with satellite imagery

• Google Maps – maps.google.com/ – Never be lost again

• Toolbar – www.google.com/tools/firefox/toolbar/FT3/intl/en/index.html – Page Ranking, Quick Search and Pop-Up Blocker all in one simple tool

• YouTube – www.youtube.com/– The place to find or host user-generated video content

• Google Wikipedia – knol.google.com/k – Knol is Google’s answer to Wikipedia, allowing users to claim expertise in a variety of topics

• Google Email (Gmail) – www.gmail.com– Free Email from Google; easily searched and lots of space

• Google SMS – www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/default/sms/index.html– Free and Easy Google searches on your phone; simply text to “Google” (466453) with your search and receive a response

• Google Ad Manager – www.google.com/admanager– A tool to help sell, schedule, target and manage your online ad inventory

• And many other options available from Google at www.google.com/intl/en/options/

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