Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape, a pioneering company in the browser market in 1994, has reentered the internet search market with his announcement to back a new startup, Rockmelt, aimed at building a new internet browser.

Rockmelt was cofounded by Tim Howes a former employee of Netscape, along with Eric Vishria. When asked what was going to be different about this new browser Andreessen was tight lipped, afterall he has learned by experience the competitive tactics of his foes.

The web has become central to all our lives and our browser (or entry point) for all our interactions is increasingly becoming an important choice for consumers. The search giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft know how important this space is to their success in the search space.Microsoft lost its dominant position by not upgrading Internet Explorer allowing new entrants like Mozilla into the market.

Mozilla’s innovative Firefox browser, touted as an open-source success, has managed to grab 24% of the browser market since its launch in 2004. That is 300 million people around the globe entering web search through its portal. Firefox’s success is due largely to its focus on security and speed of delivery. Their success drove Microsoft and Apple to upgrade Safari, and Google to introduce its Chrome browser – a lightening speed browser designed to run complex web applications.

But the real browser battle will be fought in the mobile space where wifi and search will collide in a race to deliver multi-application friendly browsers. Mobile browsing is still a painful experience at this point though Opera is getting good reviews.

There is lots of opportunity for innovation and browser competition is good to ensure an open market and that neither of the giants can tilt the market to allow the favoring of their products and applications. Afterall the search giant coffers are filled when their applications like Gmail, maps and search services are more readily used and this is tied to browser experience that is foremost fast, easy, standardized, and secure in a multi-platform setting.

Could the man who successfully launched the first browser on the internet that garnered over 90% of search traffic lead the top spot again? Time will tell.