Google Chrome toppled Apple Safari for the first time to become the third most used Internet browser in the USA, according to Statcounter.

"This is quite a coup for Google as they have gone from zero to almost 10 percent of the US market in under two years," StatCounter chief executive Aodhan Cullen said in a release.

"There is a battle royal going on between Google and Apple in the Internet browser space (Chrome vs. Safari) as well as in the mobile market (Android vs. iPhone)."

Chrome had 8.97 percent of the US browser market in the week that ended Sunday, topping Safari's 8.88 percent, StatCounter reported.