Usage share - Definition and Overview

Usage share, in web browser statistics, is the percentage of visitors to a group of web sites that use a particular browser. For example, when it is said that Internet Explorer has a 90% usage share, that means that 90% of visitors to a given set of sites used Internet Explorer. Typically, the user agent string is used to identify which browser a visitor is using.

Note that the value of usage share can be misleading, as usage share is measured in terms of the number of requests made by the user agent. Not all requests are generated by human, as an user agent can made requests in regular time intervals without user input. In this case, the usage share of that user agent would then be overestimated. Some examples:

• A web browser that refreshs the webpage in regular time interval.
• A feed reader that requests the RSS/Atom feed in regular time interval.

References

• OneStat.com (November 22, 2004) "OneStat Press Release (http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox34.html)." OneStat.com Press Box. Accessed on January 21, 2005.
• WebSideStory (December 13, 2004) "WebSideStory Press Release (http://www.websidestory.com/pressroom/pressreleases.html?id=238)." WebSideStory Press Room. Accessed on January 21, 2005.