Author Topic: Why is AVG more popular (in downloads) than Avast that has a more full free AV?  (Read 21100 times)

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dagrev

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Time killing question here, and one with no empirical answer I suppose.  (Yes I searched and didn't find a thread asking this question.)  I've always been a little surprised that AVG has, to my memory always surpassed Avast, at lease in recent years in terms of downloads.  Avast has more options in protection than AVG which is more cut back, and the Forum at AVG is pathetic.  Often an AVG person chimes in with a pat list of suggestions after a fair amount of time has gone by.  Detection rates seem similar at present.

So I'm wondering why AVG is more popular or seems that way given the number of downloads at download dot com.  All it seems AVG has in it's favor is a more colorful GUI.  Clearly Avast has the most full-orbed free AV out there and this has always puzzled me (among other things).

Any thoughts on this?


Offline bob3160

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YoKenny

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dagrev

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I was seeking and searching avasts forum, which is where I wanted the information from.  I guess avast's search didn't search very hard! ;)

Thanks for the link Bob.  It's a few years old, thus not taking into account for recent versions of Avast, but interesting.

That one is actually a rare vintage bass, and little more practice wouldn't hurt.
But thanks for that link as well YoKenny.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2012, 12:19:40 AM by dagrev »

Gargamel360

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The main (but not the only) reason I would bet it retains its #1 status is that it maintains its #1 slot.  That sounds odd, but think about it.  A lot of internet noobs or people who don't like to think too much, rely completely on Cnet, they just download the "number one anything".  And these people greatly outnumber people like you, who take the time to read elsewhere.  

There are other factors also, like I know Avast! does not re-direct all of its download traffic there, it depends on where you are located.  I'm not sure how AVG handles it, they might send everyone to Cnet.

There is also the off chance that they might actually make an effective product....I wouldn't know from personal experience, but it could not maintain that slot without any effectiveness.

Offline avast@@dvantage77.com

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avast! does not have that much penetration in the USA.  They have great penetration elsewhere.  So when you look at an English website, you are seeing a very minute chunk of the pie.  J.R.
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Offline bob3160

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avast! does not have that much penetration in the USA.  They have great penetration elsewhere.  So when you look at an English website, you are seeing a very minute chunk of the pie.  J.R.
I'm trying to change that.  :) ;D
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I am right there with you, brother!  I make it easier for the customers and resellers.  They call me, I do the rest, including the tech support.  This has been part of the issue in the USA, is non-USA tech support.  This is the number 1 gripe from my clients, about all compter related companies! If you sell there, you to tech support there!
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ady4um

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Even if all downloads were performed from the same site (which is not at all a valid assumption), the reasons may vary a LOT.

Just to give an (intentionally) extreme hypothetical example, say 10^9 users already have product A, while the other, product B is used by 10^7 users. If most users of product A are satisfied and don't have any problems, then they don't need to keep downloading it. Since product A has 100 times more users than product B, then you would see more downloads for product B. Is it better? More problems? Newer? Is its marketing? Is it...

The release cycle, built in updates, the specific download repository site and many more variables may be a factor.

The point is, there is no direct correlation to any particular reason and the variables are too many to make any observation / conclusion.

Offline Lisandro

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If you see official registered users, avast! is always ahead.
Support and forum are another story, discussed a lot of times here.
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Offline Chris Thomas

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The answer is quite simple :

AVG has a better sales and marketing team. Just going to their website gives a feeling that Avast does not give.

But in the end, its not the flashy stuff that matter, its the protection and security provided and in that aspect Avast is the best out there.

So, the number of downloads are people who are attracted to their flashy stuff and it doesn't matter much when compared with the security provided by Avast.

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Quote
So, the number of downloads are people who are attracted to their flashy stuff and it doesn't matter much when compared with the security provided by Avast.
It does matter when it comes to the revenue end of the business.
Number of downloads directly affects income.
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dagrev

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I'm not sure about downloads not being any kind of indicator the number of uses users.  Yet in my small world I can't ever recall running into a person or computer that used Avast.  AVG all over the place.  The only people I know at present are the ones I've recommended Avast to or installed on their PC.


Offline DavidR

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Well avast isn't just about download numbers as it counts actual registrations and also active users, e.g. those that have updated the VPS in the last 30 days (I believe that is the figure), so these should be fairly accurate compared to just being downloaded.

http://www.avast.com/en-gb/community.
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dagrev

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Yes, I agree that this is a more accurate picture of users than downloads.  It would be interesting to know the active users of other AV in comparison.  (To read when one is idling some time away.)  AVG is nebulous on numbers and only posts over 100 million users.  Possibly avast actually has more active users.  I suppose I'm surprised that avast is not seen more in use, given it's such a good product.