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Netscape Bug Inflated Firefox Usage

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

October 12, 2005, 7:29 PM

In a development that could upset Firefox fans, at least one major provider of browser usage statistics is now saying that market share numbers for Firefox may have been artificially inflated due to the way tracking tools were recognizing the new Netscape browser from March to July of this year.

Netscape 8.0 allows for a user to view Web sites with either Firefox's Gecko or Internet Explorer's display engine, but Gecko is used by default. Because of this capability, Netscape was reporting itself as being a Mozilla browser rather than Netscape itself.

The bug was fixed in Netscape version 8.02 released in July, AOL said, which would account for the drop in usage of Firefox and jump in Netscape usage in many surveys following the update.

Netscape saw its market share artificially drop from 1.8 percent in March to 1.5 percent in July, but then rebound to 2.2 percent the next month following the fix, according to statistics from NetApplications. The company says much of this increase had to do with the reporting bug.

The change could breathe new life into Netscape's usage share, according to the company. In addition, Netscape recently signed a deal with Hewlett-Packard to offer the browser as a choice on new computers.

Still, because Netscape is built upon the Firefox code base, it is understandable that the browser may be included in Mozilla's numbers. It is not clear how other research firms have categorized the new Netscape 8.

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By tipsyboy

edited Oct 14, 2005 - 11:59 AM

Just a bunch of apes pounding on their breasts: "I am the strongest. I am boss!" Gimme a break! Apologies to those who actually don't believe in evolution. The rest shouldn't be offended - just comparing to their ancestors.

Score: 0

By Stefu

posted Oct 14, 2005 - 3:32 AM

Yup Firefox Rulz!!! Used to type this comment :D

Score: 0

By bleh427

posted Oct 14, 2005 - 1:21 AM

Wahh wahh wahh, this article hit a nerve. Oh well Firefox nerds. I will admit that IE being the most popular browser on the face of the earth does have its disadvantages, like being attacked constantly by worms and spyware. A 90%+ market share means IE is the one being targetted at least 90% of the time. And I'd say Microsoft has done a great job of working on security for this browser given its unmatched popularity. I feel bad for anyone using Netscape though, at least the Firefox users have a dream of being able to compete with MS

Score: 0

By dscates101

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 8:19 PM

Who cares how the reporting was done Firefox is without a doubt the best browser ever!! Long live Mozilla!!!

Score: 0

By dscates101

edited Oct 13, 2005 - 8:10 PM

Who cares how the reporting was done Firefox is without a doubt the best browser ever!! Long live Mozilla!!!

Score: 0

By willie willams

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 2:58 PM

Maxthon is just another skin for IE.

Score: 0

By willie willams

edited Oct 13, 2005 - 2:44 PM

Who cares so long as it's not IE.

Score: 0

By TheBeastH6

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 11:54 AM

I advise Maxthon; it's that familar IE feel, but muchos better in terms of tab system and security options (as with anything out here, I guess).

Score: 0

By inuyashahasuma

edited Oct 13, 2005 - 10:06 AM

In my opinion, a browser is a browser (except for IE, its not worthy enough to be called a browser). Whatever you are accustomed to using is what should be used.

Score: 0

By oubeaver

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 10:32 AM

Download.com does keep a good record. But what about IE. People just don't download IE from third party sites anymore. Especially since WinXP SP2. You get all Microsoft's stuff from Windows Update. Not much tracking going on there I bet. And jesus christ people quit complaining about the fact that Microsoft has to release so many patches and fixes. THEY ARE #1. No one else even comes close, therefore they are THE #1 TARGET by hackers. So it would SEEM that their stuff is "crap". At lease they are fixing what they can. Give them a damn break. Okay, sorry, my rant is done now. Oh yeah, OPERA ROCKS. Two words....mouse gestures.

Score: 0

By cPingN

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 1:31 PM

Yes but they are #1 sort of "by default".. though for a while, there wasn't much of a good alternative. Now that proper browsers with better standards compliance and extensibility are around, we can all see how IE was lacking. And if you use Opera just because of gestures, but secretly you know FF is better, there's always All-In-One gestures extension:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/.../ext/extensions-en.html

Score: 0

By krazy1

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 7:30 AM

Personally who cares how many of one type of browser is used other then the developers. Use what ever browser fits your needs and be done with it. Who cares what browser has the most users. It is kind of like worrying if there are more Fords on the road then Chevy's...

Score: 0

By rpavl

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 6:37 AM

people like jjarmak are so incredible. who gives a damn about how many FireFlop downloads there are...does this person have a life? doubtful. if he got as excited about something that mattered...say government policy, he might be an effective voice, but really, all this energy wasted, just because the Flopper isnt being downloaded as much as believed...

Score: 0

By jjarmak

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 6:22 AM

It doesn't matter what stupid site that can't keep track of it's statistics says, just go to download.com. Download.com is a great site for software of all kinds, check it out for yourself or ask a friend and relative about it if you don't know about it. You be glad you did. Anyways, the download.com site does keep accurate records and Firefox is comming in as the #1 web browser, with Opera as the #2 web browser. There will always be competition in this case Firefox has Opera. Lets just be thankful IE doesn't rank up there as highly as these other two. I'm thankful for having alternative browsers and I'm tired of Microsoft s*** that puts out security patches only to put out yet even more vunerabilities. I sure hope their next OS, Vista will be good. In case you havn't heard Vista is the next operating system and will be due out next year plans are around Christmas. Thankful of seeing Internet Explorer's downfall, and the alternative browsers taking a lead.
Silent But Deadly,
Jeff.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 1:18 AM

LOL. I love it when people get so worked up about usage statistics. Frankly, I couldn't care less how many users each browser has. The number of people using it doesn't make any difference in how good or bad the broswer is IMO.

Score: 0

By interested102

posted Oct 15, 2005 - 6:25 PM

Amen.

Score: 0

By TheBeastH6

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 11:56 AM

Thank you, thank you. Agreed.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 8:20 PM

Netscape isn't the only browser with this capability. Opera has a similar masking option (to be masked as IE). As said before this comment, internet statistics are never 100% accurate, so yes, the numbers will be off.

Score: 0

By TomasF

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 9:37 PM

Not really. Operas functionality is to change the UA string to fool stupid or outdated browser detection scripts and thus help control what content it is being served. Netscape 8's functionality actually switches the browsing engine used. Operas UA switch doesn't affect the rendering engine.

Either way, selfproclaimed "internet-wide" browser stats are useless.

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

edited Oct 12, 2005 - 8:14 PM

Truth is...the numbers don't seem to ever add up. Web statistics will always be sloppy. I'm sure there's jerks somewhere on the planet that use browsers on computers just to add statistics and such too, so even if the statistics are perfect, they do not reflect necessarily how many people "use" one browser or another. I tried Firefox for about a month or so, so am I still "using" Firefox now? Hence the 5% or so margin of error usually listed on statistics.

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 11:56 PM

That's a good point. You never heard about "non-use" downloads... I guess there isn't a way to track that..

They should develop a ping of some sort that whenever a browser is loaded some pages track "current" use.. since we can assume people browse the net daily, the usage should be tracked such that websites report constant usage of a browser, not just merely a download.

Score: 0

By sophist_dreams

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 8:03 PM

I dont know that I am uspet about the bug, as much as Beta New's bias toward Microspud...why does the headline not include IE? Netscape could be set to appear as one or the other depending on the users preference, so would it not be reasonable to assume that there might have been less hits for IE?

Score: 0

By Paradise-FH-

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 8:28 PM

that's a crock. if anything betanews gives microsoft more than it's fair share of lumps when security issues are raised or lawsuits are flying around.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 1:25 PM

Agreed. There is no bias, and if there was one, it wouldn't be Pro-MS.

Score: 0

By One Loop

edited Oct 12, 2005 - 8:27 PM

Perhaps it was because IE was not affected? They didn't say either way, but that might have been a reason they left it out. I do feel, however, that there's not a bias towards IE from BetaNews. It's arguable that the bias could be towards Opera or Safari as well. I do understand that IE is involved with the Netscape browser as you can choose it as the rendering engine, but your statement is broadly accusing a bias towards IE. It also doesn't hurt to acknowledge that certain authors of BetaNews will have their own biases and make them prevailent in their articles.

Besides, any good web developer will know that the global web browser usage stats mean next to nothing. It's all about the demographic of your site audience and the current trends (eg: people are increasingly moving to one browser or another).

Score: 0

By netwiz562

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 9:31 PM

Yea I agree, certain websites such a technology oriented one may have a larger Firefox userbase, while a site with an older non-tech audience may have an insignificant number of FF users.

Betanews is obviously biased in a lot of ways, but so are most news organizations.

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Oct 12, 2005 - 11:58 PM

Obviously biased? Based on what evidence? I see not evidence of bias?

In fact, they go out of their way to report ALL beta products, how many MS announcements have their been over the last several weeks? Go back and look at the article history, its about Apple, Firefox, Opera, and some stupid a** lame lawsuits between Sun and other companies, but there is no MS bias, now you are being inflamatory.

The big MS bus, ride it.. yeah, whatever.

Score: 0

By eunichman

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 8:53 AM

evidence of the MS bias:

http://www.ecomstation.c...ublic%20beta%20released
This was released back in september, why was it not covered here?

http://www.ecomstation.c...%20is%20now%20available
Oct 11, 2005 not covered here

http://www.ecomstation.c...0for%20OS/2%20and%20eCS
Oct 11 and not covered here

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=12238
Oct 13 news not reported here

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=12236
Oct 13 news not reported here

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=12235
Oct 13 news not reported here

There ARE other operating systems and software out there and where is THEIR news coverage here? it doesnt exist because it's not MS

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Oct 13, 2005 - 2:02 PM

LOL, you claim "bias" yet you post OSNEWS links!

HAHA, that's like posting SLASHDOT or THEREGISTER links!

(fun with caps. ;-)

Score: 0

By eunichman

posted Oct 14, 2005 - 2:18 AM

osnews wasnt the only links there, look again. the point is that there is news non-ms related. these were just a few examples I found after googling news releases for 5 meager minutes.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Oct 14, 2005 - 11:17 AM

Wow. You spent 5 whole minutes on that? I'm sorry. That must be sad not having anything better to do.

I feel compelled to quote the Terms of use here:
"IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THIS WEB SITE, OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY SHALL BE TO CEASE USING THE WEB SITE."

I don't know why, but that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. =p

Score: 0

By wincement

edited Oct 13, 2005 - 11:47 AM

Your 'evidence' says nothing.

EVERY news service has to be selective with their news. There's just no way they can report EVERYTHING. The goal is to provide news that is targetted toward their audience. Targetted news is not the same as a bias.

And in case you hadn't noticed... it's still before noon. Most Betanews stories are published after this time, so it's not fair to use stories published today as an example against them.

Score: 0

By Jwec

posted Oct 14, 2005 - 5:56 AM

Bit random but Opera RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

Score: 0

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