It's not just your imagination -- Chrome really is getting faster.

Google said today that its JavaScript benchmark tool shows Chrome is 26 percent faster than it was last year.

Google

"Stability sometimes takes higher priority, but we're still manic about improving Chrome's speed," Google's Toon Verwaest said in a blog post.

One way Google avoids the bloat that has crippled other browsers over the years -- the company set up automated tests to notify engineers whenever a change in the code makes the browser slower, Verwaest said.

The company's efforts aren't limited to JavaScript improvements -- it also made recent moves to reduce the browser's startup time.

Chrome has slowly but steadily improved its market share since its debut four years ago; its focus on speed is surely a top reason why.