Computerworld’s Seth Weintraub reports that Google is set to launch this weekend a series of short, snappy TV commercials aimed at wrestling marketshare from its rivals, especially the vulnerable IE. Overall, IE holds the largest share of the market, followed by Firefox and Safari, while Chrome comes in a distant fourth, just ahead of Opera. That lineup could be changing soon, however. For example, Net Applications reports that IE lost 0.7% market share in April, and the research firm says it expects IE’s overall share of the browser market to drop below 50% by 2011, opening up some room for rivals like Chrome to step in.
Still, Chrome has a long way to go. The same Net Applications numbers show Chrome, while up 0.2% in April, holds just 1.4% of the market. Google’s already tried to boost those numbers via Chrome ads displayed on its homepage, and that seems to have worked to some extent. But now, Google’s pulling out all stops and going for the big TV push. It will be interesting to see if more traditional advertising will help turn those numbers around.
For a sneak preview, check out the YouTube spot pasted below:
And to see all of them, check out Weintraub’s blog.
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