The majority of Europeans are unaware of the Browser Choice screen
26th February, 2010
At Mozilla, we wanted to know if there is widespread awareness among Europeans about the Browser Choice screen. So we commissioned a survey to find out.
This survey by Ipsos MORI was conducted in six countries; France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain. The results - hot off the press - indicate that nearly three quarters (between 70 and 81 percent*) of Internet users in these countries are not aware of the Browser Choice screen coming their way. Respondents were asked, “Were you aware that the European Commission has adopted a decision ensuring the millions of Microsoft users across the European Union who have Internet Explorer installed as their default internet browser will now have to be offered the chance to choose the browser they want to use via a choice screen which appears on their PC/Laptop screen?”
Browser Choice screen awareness was highest in Poland with 30 percent and lowest in Spain with 19 percent. It’s interesting to look at these figures in contrast to the Internet Explorer marketshare** of that country. Of particular note is Poland, with the highest awareness, but lowest IE marketshare.
We hope the conversations that are starting on this site, and across the Web will increase the awareness about the Browser Choice screen. Starting next week, we’ll be kicking off activities that you can join to help reach the large numbers of people who don’t know they will soon be asked to choose their Web browser.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear your comments about the findings of this study. Are you surprised awareness was so low?
Sources:
*Browser Choice Awareness: Ipsos MORI online survey, 6,000 respondents, 6 countries (Great Britain, Germany, France, Poland, Italy and Spain) 19-21 February 2010. Data weighted to be representative of each countries population
**IE Marketshare: At 54.4 % in Spain and at 27.8% in Italy Poland according to Net Applications data for January 2010
*** Post data updated March 1st 2010. IE Market share data was incorrectly noted. IE has 27.8% market share in Poland, not Italy as previously written.