Browser adoption depends on

  1. discovering that there is a choice between browsers
  2. discovering that a certain browser exists
  3. taking the leap to download a browser and try it out
  4. being convinced to leave the old browser and use the new one

Before Chrome came by, Firefox had lots of time to dethrone Internet Explorer. It was finally Chrome that dethroned IE.

WHY DID CHROME BECOME #1?

  1. Google had an aggressive campaign to educate users about what a browser was, how it was different from ‘Google’ and that there was a choice involved. Reason: They wanted people to think that Chrome was different from Google. Otherwise, when asked whether they wanted to change their browser, they’d say “Oh, no thank you — I’m pretty happy with Google” and they’d be using Internet Explorer.
  2. Google advertised Chrome on it’s home page. That home page gets a lot of hits, no advertising campaign required. Then again, to keep the Google brand of simplicity and to avoid forcing the browser down the throat of its users, there was a simple cross button to make that message disappear forever, so there’s no harm done to Google’s strict requirement of simplicity in the home page.
  3. Google made Chrome easier to download by making users download a generic installation file that then accessed the internet and automatically installed the latest version of Chrome for them. That installer eliminated the need to choose the installation directory, click a series of ‘Next’ buttons, or import bookmarks before the browser itself was installed.
  4. When users had downloaded Chrome alongside Firefox, they found Chrome to be faster (because there were no extensions at that time), cleaner and more stylish. The “Google” brand also made the Chrome experience seem better than it objectively was.

If users didn’t uninstall Firefox, they would simply use it lesser.

And one the association between ‘browser’ and ‘Chrome’ was established in the mind of the user, ‘Chrome’ became the new default thing that popped into the minds of consumers when they thought ‘browser’.

The best part is, Google didn’t initially spend a lot on marketing. A small box on their home page was enough. Later, in order to expand to more traditional markets, Google starting advertising Chrome on television.

Which other browser advertises on television?