This is some unexpected news. Chrome’s market share has actually fallen? That’s the case according to new data from Net Applications.

The firm attributes the loss in Chrome market share to the penalty Google placed on it after the the whole paid post controversy last month. Google reduced the PageRank of the Chrome home page after it was found to be in violation of the company’s own webmaster guidelines, and as a result no longer appears on the first page in a variety of popular browser related searches.

It’s a bit hard to fathom that this could have such a major impact, but it’s at least one thing to take into consideration. It will be interesting to see how the market share looks next month, and after the Chrome page gets its PageRank back. Google said the PR would be lowered for a period of at least 60 days.

Also in January, Internet Explorer gained 1.1% and Firefox dropped 1%.