Last time, we shared a breakdown of ad blockers across browsers and regions (make sure to check it out, as it makes a great combo with this article).
Ad Blocker Review: Know Your Enemy
Introduction: The objective of the research
In the world of digital advertising, knowing your audience is only half the battle. Equally essential is understanding how and where you can reach customers.
When it comes to browsing preferences, every country has its own peculiarities. While Chrome and Safari lead globally, finer details reveal unique user choices in different regions that can shape ad targeting strategies.
This new research on browser popularity by region reveals insights that will improve the effectiveness of your targeting strategy. We’ve collected data on the most used browsers in each region, uncovering unique patterns that reflect both user habits and access to technology. For example, some regions lean toward mobile browsers, while others show a strong preference for desktop alternatives. By leveraging these trends, advertisers can create region-specific campaigns that fit local browsing habits, maximizing user reach, visibility, and engagement.
Come on board and let's dive right into it.
Overview: Traffic distribution among browsers worldwide
As expected, Chrome and Safari dominate the global market, with Chrome holding around 66% of the world's traffic and Safari securing 15% share. A collective 13% goes to the group of less popular browsers, such as: Opera, Samsung Browser, Google Search, UC Browser and Firefox. And the remaining 6% belongs to even lesser-known browsers.
This overview is just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, you will see that when you segment each browser by mobile and desktop devices, popularity by country varies greatly even within the same region.
Chrome Popularity: Region by Region
Mobile Devices: Chrome Hot Spots
Chrome Mobile is up and running in popularity in South America, Africa, and large parts of Asia and Europe .
On the other hand, Chrome Mobile is not as widely used in places like North America, Australia, Northern Europe and Japan, and Russia. There Chrome's dominance drops below 50%.
Finally, there is China where Chrome is officially blocked .
Interestingly, we recorded 10% Chrome oman whatsapp number usage in China. This can be explained by the fact that local browsers adopt Chrome's user agent string, which tricks some data tools into counting it as Chrome traffic.
Using the desktop computer: same hero, different story
On desktop, Chrome's usage rate varies more than on mobile. It remains the top choice in Asia and South America, although its traffic share here is 10-15% lower than on mobile.
In Europe Chrome's popularity on the desktop is dipping even further, especially in GEOs like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland .
Meanwhile, Chrome doesn't log much on desktop computers in most African countries and some Asian and South American countries .
China again comes out on top, as local browsers using the Chrome user agent (such as Browser 360 ) have a higher share on desktop than mobile.
Safari Popularity: Region by Region
Although Safari takes up much less traffic worldwide than Google's browser (15% vs. 66%, see statistics in section 1. ), there are certain regions where it has managed to overtake Chrome.
In fact, Safari's success often correlates to regions where Chrome is less popular.
Let's find out more about mobile and desktop stocks.
Mobile Safari
Mobile Safari dominates in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Northern Europe (particularly Norway and Sweden). These are regions where Chrome usage is significantly lower, allowing Safari to gain a foothold among mobile users.
Safari Desktop
Similarly, Safari’s presence on desktop mirrors its dominance on mobile.
However, a unique trend is seen in Saudi Arabia and Iraq where the desktop version of Safari has a high user share , setting these regions apart from others in terms of desktop browser preference.
Final thoughts on Chrome and Safari users
In regions such as India, the US, Germany and Japan, there is a great diversity of desktop browsers, with Chrome and Safari together accounting for less than the projected 80% of the desktop market. This suggests greater competition between browsers on desktop devices compared to mobile, where fewer players are capturing the largest shares. We therefore decided to investigate lesser-known browsers in more detail to find the answers to the questions: In which regions have these browsers gained popularity? What are the top regions for each of them? And does the situation differ between mobile and desktop versions?
Traffic distribution among other browsers by country
Surprisingly, there are other browsers besides Chrome and Safari that can claim their corner of the market.
Opera shines in South and Southeast Asia including India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia .
Samsung Browser has a stronghold in several individual countries rather than an entire region, including the United States, India, Germany, South Korea, and Indonesia .
Google's search app peaks in usage in Japan and is also popular in India, the United States, and Vietnam .
UC Browser thrives in South, East, and Southeast Asia — from Indonesia to India, China, and Bangladesh with an outlier in France where it holds 8% of traffic.
Firefox is popular in Germany, the United States, Japan, India, and France .
Edge is gaining traction in the United States, Japan, India, and Germany , although in China, as is the case with Chrome, local browsers often emulate its user agent.
Countries like India, the United States, Germany, and Japan are hotspots for browser diversity.
Unpopular browsers, which found their audience in certain regions
Some countries have adopted browsers that are otherwise of little global significance, providing advertisers with valuable insight into local preferences:
Baidu app dominates in China with a solid 14% share.
Firefox has 10% of the market in Luxembourg .
Google search app leads with 15% in Laos .
Opera is the first choice in Bangladesh (22%) with significant percentages (around 14-15%) in Somalia, Libya, Tanzania, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Cameroon .
Samsung Browser is widely used in South Korea (14%), Tanzania (13%), and Iran (11%) .
UC Browser captures 22% in Qatar and holds 13% for both Bahrain and Pakistan .
Yandex naturally leads in Russia (28%) with good results in Uzbekistan (12%) and Belarus (10%) .
Key information for sellers and advertisers
Congratulations! Now, you can set up targeting based not only on your theories, but also on the solid statistics provided by the HilltopAds team.
Understanding browser preferences by region is essential for effective ad targeting, especially on desktop devices, where browser competition is fiercer than on mobile. This diversity gives advertisers the opportunity to target users across the dominant browsers in certain regions, rather than being limited to Chrome and Safari.
This type of browser information can help tailor creatives, placements, and advertising strategies to each market’s preferences. For advertisers and affiliate marketers, this nuanced understanding of browser trends can mean the difference between good and great campaign performance, especially when targeting countries with unique browser loyalty.
While Chrome and Safari dominate globally, there is a world of opportunity within niche browser preferences, each offering a unique avenue to reach target audiences around the world.