For whatever reason, today seems to have been the day for announcing stats about Internet browsers and search engines.  Interestingly enough, both of the articles that I’m referring to came out around the same time this morning (~10am Eastern time), but luckily they are from two different sources and perhaps many people wouldn’t combine their information.  Lucky for you, I did.

Article #1 comes from Mashable.  According to the study “Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage,” from Canadian, AptiQuant, there is a connection between what internet browser individuals use and their IQ scores.  The study consisted of compiling IQ scores from 100,000+ people over the age of 16 and dividing them into groups based on the browser they used.  We’re not certain of the scientific nature of this sort of study, but the results are quite interesting:

- Individuals who use Internet Explorer 6 had an average IQ score of just more than 80
- Firefox and Chrome users had an average IQ score of 110
- Opera and Camino users averaged an IQ score of 120

With these results, AptiQuant concluded that individuals with lower IQ scores tend to resist a change or upgrade of their internet browsers.  Apparently, it is only “logical” that users with higher IQ scores are more likely to experiment and upgrade their software.  Try not to be offended, IE6 users…

Article #2 comes from Search Engine Land.  According to a new report from Chitika, which analyzed a week’s worth of traffic from July 20-26, 75% of all Bing search engine traffic comes from Internet Explorer users.

The report also suggests that Internet Explorer is the overwhelming favorite among the choices of internet browsers:

- 52% use Internet Explorer
- 20% use Firefox
- 14% use Chrome
- 14% use Safari
- 0.4% use Opera

Read on their own, each of these separate articles is interesting.  However, when read together, I think they are not only interesting, but a lot more humorous (unless you have an IQ score below 80 and/or work for Internet Explorer or Bing).  Here’s what you get when they are combined:

A = The lowest IQ range studied tends to use Internet Explorer at an whopping 52%.
B = 75% of all of Bing’s search engine traffic comes from Internet Explorer users.
Therefore,
C = Bing may be too simple for smart people.

Sorry, Microsoft!  It looks like you’re losing on both fronts…  :)

Note: This is all in good fun.  If you enjoy Internet Explorer or Bing, please continue to do so.  If you enjoy Firefox, Chrome, Google, or any other internet browser or search engine, please continue to do so as well.

Enjoy the weekend!

/ms