• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 21, 2012

Marking the end of an era, new data suggests that Google Chrome has overtaken Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as the foremost Web browser.

According to StatCounter -- and first reported by Global Nerdy blogger Joey deVilla -- Chrome recently overtook IE for the first time.

“Measuring the Web is an imprecise science, very often based on scaling up small scale measurement surveys,” notes The Next Web. “But the gist of Statcounter’s data over the last year indicates that Chrome use is rising … at the expense of IE and Firefox, regardless of the exact precision of the data.”

“This isn’t the first time that Chrome has gotten ahead, however,” TechCrunchreminds us. “And the race itself is close -- perhaps too close to call.” Still, “while Chrome has been leapfrogging the incumbent Internet Explorer on weekends for some time now, the week of May 14th–20th marks the first time Chrome has averaged a higher traffic share over a full seven-day stretch,” The Verge writes.

“The news isn’t too surprising, since Google has done a remarkable job of quickly improving Chrome and adding features that tie easily tie into your Google account,” writes VentureBeat. “In North America, Internet Explorer is still slightly more popular than Chrome, though Microsoft’s browser has been steadily dropping in popularity over the last year.”

“As time goes on, we will see the market change to where Chrome has a commanding lead,” 9To5Google predicts. “Its Omnibox paired with tab syncing, make it a one-stop-shop solution for every browser user’s needs.”

Also, as The Next Web adds: “Statcounter’s findings give Google a double win, after the analytics site found that its mobile browser -- Android Robot -- had leapfrogged Opera to become the most popular option for mobile-based Web surfers in March.”