Update: The following news turned out to be a hoax – covered by news websites worldwide. We’ll leave our original story online – enjoy!

“Some marketers have long suspected Internet Explorer users may not be the brightest folk–especially those using antiquated and outdated versions. But now it’s official: a study of web users’ IQs found IE users are the least intelligent of all browser users. Those using IE6 had an average IQ of 80, just short of mental disability (the cut-off is 70).

The study of 101,326 users was conducted by psychometric-assessment firm AptiQuant, correlating users’ scores with the browsers they used to access the test. Firefox, Safari and Chrome users topped the scale with average IQs significantly above 100. IE users, meanwhile, failed to get beyond double-digits, with IE6 users coming in last.

For online marketers targeting expats, browser targeting has always been a complicated game. Many expats use a range of computers and mobile devices, and they are also more likely than others to use a browser in a second or third language. On top of that, expats may be impacted by browser usage in their home country. Still, it’s probably fair to assume IE users living abroad aren’t the brightest of that bunch, either.”