Google Chrome briefly became the most widely used web browser last Sunday, according to new data released by Irish web analytics firm StatCounter.

The more than three million websites that use StatCounter’s service recorded that Chrome edged Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser into second place on March 18th. Google’s browser had a 32.71 per cent market share, compared with 32.5 per cent for Microsoft and 24.8 per cent for Mozilla’s Firefox.

Chrome was the browser of choice in a number of key growing markets, including India, Brazil and Russia, but remains in second or third place in China, the US and Germany.

“At weekends, when people are free to choose what browser to use, many of them are selecting Chrome,” said Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter chief executive.