Linux Web Usage Almost Doubled, Now At ~2%?

A new report out from a major Internet advertising firm has shown the number of Linux devices almost doubling in the last quarter of 2013 and putting the Linux usage on the web at just under 2%.

Chitika, a former advertiser on Phoronix, has issued a new report about Chrome OS and Linux web usage growth from September 2013 through January 2014. Chitika found that the number of Chrome OS devices rose from 0.1 to 0.2% of all accounted web traffic by the network. Meanwhile, for Linux devices in general, they found Linux rose from 1.1% last September to now at 1.9% when ending their numbers at the end of January. The Linux growth really took off in October has continued since.

This is just the data from one (large) advertising firm but is interesting nevertheless. Most Linux usage numbers we see in the consumer space also reflect Linux having a 1~2% market-share among laptops and PCs. Valve's Steam Linux usage also hovers at just over 1%. Of course, Canonical claims to be shipping on ~5% of PCs globally. The new report in full can be viewed at Chitika.com. While Google has ramped up marketing around Chrome OS, it's interesting to see the Linux share rise so quickly. Do you think it's due to Ubuntu's presence? More games coming to Linux via all of Valve's initiatives? Let us know in the forums what you think accounts for the Linux rise in Internet usage over the past five months.