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Netscape 8.0 Reporting Error Gives Away Market Share to Internet Explorer and Firefox, According to NetApplications Findings

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

Updated NetApplications Statistics Reveal that Netscape

Market Share May be Higher than Originally Reported

NetApplications, a provider of Web-based applications that measure, monitor and market Web sites for the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME), today announced that Netscape market share numbers may be higher than previously reported due to a recently discovered identification reporting error in version 8.0.

Analysis of browser market activity over the past six months uncovered an interesting trend which may help Netscape in future reports. According to NetApplications' market share data via hitslink.com (http://marketshare.hitslink.com), Netscape's release of version 8.0 initially triggered a decline in overall market share. Typically with the launch of a new version, numbers historically go up due to initial excitement and adoption.

After further research, it was uncovered that Netscape 8.0 no longer offered its own rendering engine. It rendered pages using either the Internet Explorer or Firefox rendering engine, depending on the user's preference and the page content. Tracking software tools were unable to effectively account for new Netscape 8.0 users, which in effect gave incorrect market share points to Internet Explorer and Firefox. Netscape corrected the issue with its new 8.0.2 release; however, an unknown number of Netscape browsers are still reporting as Internet Explorer or Firefox.

"When Netscape 8.0 was released in May, its market share actually declined, while Firefox's market share increased and Microsoft's Internet Explorer remained steady," observed Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of marketing and strategic relationships for NetApplications. "Even though Firefox has definitely impacted Internet Explorer's dominance, the next several months will paint a more accurate portrayal of the browser landscape. With a recent bundling alliance with HP giving new PC customers an option to select Netscape as the default browser, Netscape appears to have a lock on third place behind Internet Explorer and Firefox."

In its September browser report, NetApplications reported that Safari had captured 2.39% market share with Netscape traffic reporting at 2.16%. As Netscape users upgrade to 8.0.2, market share numbers are expected to boost Netscape's numbers past Safari.

September Browser Market Share: Microsoft Internet Explorer - 86.87% FireFox - 7.55% Safari - 2.39% Netscape - 2.16% Opera - 0.51% Other - 0.51%

HitsLink(TM) is Net Applications' flagship product providing advanced website statistics and analysis for webmasters and eMarketers alike. The data has been collected from over 40,000 Hitslink.com-monitored global Web sites. Please feel free to use this data in your reports or articles, simply source it as, "Data for this article was compiled from global traffic statistics from Web sites tracked by NetApplications' HitsLink.com."

The HitsLink Enterprise Service starts at $14.95 per monthly subscription. A free trial is available at www.HitsLink.com/trial.

About NetApplications

Since 1999 NetApplications has been a leading source of tools and utilities for webmasters and eMarketers for small to medium enterprise (SME). The company has a complete suite of simple and affordable subscription-based applications that are designed to help users have greater success with their Web site marketing efforts. Headquartered in Aliso Viejo California, NetApplications distributes its services through over 3,000 partners and affiliates. These services may also be founded at www.netapplications.com, www.hitslink.com, www.submitter.net, www.publishplus.com, www.1stwarning.com and www.toolshack.com.

Source: Business Wire

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