Leading the pack when it comes to Present Base software (better known as Instant Messaging), is MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger (204m subscribers), Yahoo! Messenger (78m), AIM (34m) and ICQ (33.9m).
The fairly new Google Talk claimed a paltry 3.4m subscribers worldwide. ICQ actually grew by more than 10% year-over-year. The network is owned by AOL and is considered the first mainstream instant messaging application. Another interesting factoid from the data is that E-buddy (formerly known as E-messenger) rules the unified messenger category ahead of Trillian, claiming 3.9m vs. 1.3m unique visitors. E-buddy offers on online unified messenger for MSN, AOL and Yahoo ñ no installation required. The great benefit is that it allows users on bolted down corporate networks to connect to instant messaging services without any intervention from the IT department.
comScore pointed out that: "Please note that AIM.com/AIM App refers to the combined usage of the stand-alone AIM application, plus visitation to the AIM.com website. AOL Instant Message refers to the IM service available to AOL subscribers. These numbers cannot be combined, since users of both applications would be double-counted." |
