Google's Chrome internet browser overtook Firefox for the first time globally in November and it continues to narrow the gap to market leader Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer, web analytics firm StatCounter said on Thursday.

'We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally,' Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter chief executive, said in a statement.

In November Chrome saw its market share roughly doubling from a year ago to 25.7 percent, while Internet Explorer's share dropped to 40.6 percent from 48.2 percent.

The market share of Firefox -- which is popular in Europe -- slipped globally to 25.2 percent from 31.2 percent.      Apple's Safari is a distant No 4 on the market with a 5.9 percent share of all browsing, with No 5 Opera  controlling 1.8 percent of the market.

StatCounter statistics are based on aggregate data from more than 3 million websites with a sample of more than 15 billion page views per month. - Reuters