Avast Free Weekly CNET Download Volume Tops 2 Million

Avast had over 2 million downloads of their free antivirus  solution on download.com  for the week ending July 7.  to trounce the other malware vendors. They took the lead over post IPO AVG Technologies.    See the table below. Avast retains a large lead in installed base, close to 190 million to about 107 million for AVG.  Divide   (weekly downloads times 52) by installed base  to get an estimate of churn. For both, it's kind of ouch.   Since the vast majority of  the company's installed base are  "free" and have little switching costs, the companies obtain search revenue from the replacements. However, they lose the opportunity for cross sell and upgrade revenue.

For the week ending July 7:

1. 2.04 million - Avast
2. 1.43 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.16 million - Ad-Aware
4. 0.10 million - Avira

For the week ending June 30:

1. 1.13 million - AVG Technologies
2. 1.11 million - Avast
3. 0.38 million - Ad-Aware
4. 0.09 million - Avira

Companies do use multiple sites for downloads. When this is taken into account, the one and two positions may, in fact, be different. 

For the first time in quite awhile, Avast tops the CNET download site for free antivirus. Figures for the week ending March 11:

1. 1.1 million - Avast
2. 1.0 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.4 million – Avira
4. 0.04 million – Ad-Aware

March 18 addendum

Avast topped AVG Technologies on this site for the second week in a row - March 18

1. 1.48 million - Avast
2. 0.95 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.43 million - Avira
4. 0.04 million - Ad-Aware

No change in order as of April 4

1. 1.32 million - Avast
2. 0.94 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.40 million - Avira
4. 0.04 million - Ad-Aware

April 8 ranking

1. 1.03 million - Avast
2. 0.81 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.34 million - Avira
4. 0.04 million - Ad- Aware

April 15 ranking

1. 1.10 million - Avast
2. 0.93 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.40 million - Avira
4. 0.04 million - Ad-Aware

April 22 ranking

1. 1.02 million - Avast
2. 0.74 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.34 million - Avira
4. 0.03 million - Ad-Aware

April 29 ranking

1. 1.13 million - Avast
2. 0.86 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.39 million - Avira
4. 0.04 million - Ad-Aware 

May 6 ranking

1. 1.14 million - Avast
2. 0.85 million - AVG Technologies
3. 0.41 million - Avira
4. 0.05 million - Ad-Aware

CNET appeared to not do a revised table the week ending May 13

May 20 ranking

1. 1.20 - AVG Technologies
2. 1.12 - Avast
3. 0.31 - Ad-Aware
4. 0.27 - Avira

Ad-Aware had a big leap in activity for some reason to take the 3rd spot.

http://download.cnet.com/windows/

The first two products have both received 4.5 stars from CNET Editors while Avira and Ad-Aware have received 4.0 stars. It’s important to note that the figures below are downloads only from this site. Vendors frequently use multiple download sites for their products. Firms can vary the allocation. They can also vary the degree of online ads they use to push downloads. It does seem to be a requirement that your company name begins with an “A” to top the list.

What’s more important in the greater scheme of things than free downloads is how many of these downloads are installed and active. Active leaves the vendors some wiggle room since they get to define active. In the March Opswat “Security Industry Market Share Analysis”, Avast, Avira, and AVG Technologies are one, two, and three respectively for global vendor market share. 

Look for a smackdown between the vendors to take place in Prague's Old Town Square. Pivo for everyone. Na zdravi.