Google today announced that it will be launching its very own Web browser tomorrow. The beta version of the open source browser called Google Chrome will be launched in more than 100 countries. The initial release is just for Windows; Mac and Linux versions are being developed. The browser will be free and available for download somewhere. I navigated to the URL, www.google.com/chrome, in the comic book that Google put out explaining Chrome and which served to leak the story and got a 404 error…page not found.

Why do we need yet another browser? According to Google “Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web”. Translation: we think we can create a better browser than everyone else. There are already so many browsers out there from desktop browsers, mobile browsers, text only browsers, open source browsers, and the list goes on. The one with the biggest market share, of course, and winner of the browser wars thus far is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer followed by Mozilla’s Firefox. According to the AP, the other reason Google has come out with its own browser is because of concern that Microsoft will create IE in such a way that makes it more difficult for Google’s search engine to attract traffic. Google already has a huge partnership with Mozilla where the Google search utility appears on the homepage of the Firefox browser. The real reasons, of course, Google is creating its own browser are to prevent Microsoft from encroaching on their territory, to use the browser to better target online advertising, and to further distribute Google Apps like Google Docs which is the web based competitor to Microsoft Office.

The official reason, however, is: “All of us at Google spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends — all using a browser. Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.”

The Chrome browser will be almost like a Google portal incorporating a number of Google services, it will use what looks like hexagonal tabs (versus the traditional IE and FF rectangular tabs) on the top of the window versus below the address bar (again, versus IE and FF), auto-completion address bar, thumbnail view of web history, privacy mode browsing (similar to IE 8’s InPrivate feature), and support for faster JavaScript performance.

Can you imagine referring to the chrome in your Chrome browser?! An expert I spoke with in the industry says that this is less about innovation and more about protecting Google’s lead in online advertising and that Google is less about innovation today as it has become more of a media company. People already have a tough enough time getting things straight in the two dominant browsers - IE and FF.

Related Post: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Now Available