[thelist] Flash stats.

[John Dowdell]

At 12:53 PM 5/10/1, Ryan Finley wrote:
> http://websnapshot.mycomputer.com/plugins.html

This approach is indeed a helpful indicator, but note the methodology...
visitors are queried on their netscape.plugins array. Netscape Plugins tend
to have a lower installation rate than do the auto-installable ActiveX
Controls. (I don't have download stats at the handy, but in the past I've
seen 6:1 differences between Control and Plugin installations!)

If they find that 75% of the people who visit their site in Netscape
browsers have a Macromedia Flash Player installed, then that is consonant
with NPD's 90%+ of consumers in their current browser.

You can cross-check this by seeing how viewership for other media types is
similarly lower than in the MediaMetrix tests. The kicker is Windows Media
Player, which is viewable by over 68% of consumers (NPD), but which is
present in only 30% of Netscape browsers (mycomputer.com)...!

Sidenote: One thing to be aware of when doing a simple navigator.plugins
query is that some browser plugins require installation of additional
system components. The presence of the Beatnik or QuickTime plugin does not
imply that this content can be viewed in the browser, for instance...
viewers would need the rest of such engines installed as well.


At 2:36 PM 5/10/1, Andrew Forsberg wrote:
> What I find weird is that they list the netscape *default plugin*
> as present in only 64% of the netscape browsers surveyed.

I've always been puzzled by that part too... it has been a consistent part
of their picture, but I haven't understood how it could be...?


Summary: Varied measuring methods are helpful, each giving a part of the
whole picture.


jd





John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US
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