• by Paul Gough , December 31, 2003

More computer users are turning to programs other than Web browsers to access the Internet, for a range of activities that include messaging and streaming audio and video.

That's the word from Nielsen//NetRatings, which said Tuesday that three of every four users access the Internet using an application other than a Web browser like Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The total unique audience using Internet applications in November 2003 rose 11 percent compared to November 2002, Nielsen//NetRatings said. There were 106 million people using Internet applications, and they used them for an average of 3 hours, 37 minutes every month.

This doesn't mean the end of the Web browser as we know it. It's still by far the most popular way for Internet users to use the Web. Abha Bhagat, senior analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings, said Tuesday afternoon that just as the Internet changes and evolves, the ways to use it change and evolve too. She said that the lines between Web browser and computer desktop have blurred so that it's sometimes difficult to distinguish whether a user is on the Internet or using something from the desktop.

What are the top non-browser applications? Windows Media Player tops the list, with 48.15 million unique users in November 2003 and an active user reach of 34.43 percent. In second place is another type of application, AOL Instant Messenger, with 28.36 million estimated users and an active user reach of 20.27 percent.

Following close behind are competitors to those two applications, RealOne/RealPlayer (27.64 million users and 19.76 percent reach), MSN Messenger Service (27.01 million users and 19.31 percent reach), and Yahoo! Messenger Service (17.14 million users and 12.26 percent reach).

Bhagat said that these applications have found their way to many Internet users' desktops in recent years because they've become more useful to older people. Messaging applications are still used by teenagers and young adults, but it's also common among corporations for employees to keep in touch, she said. And programs like Windows Media Player and RealPlayer have allowed corporations and organizations to disseminate content over the Web.

For marketers, Bhagat said, this means they'll have to keep track of the changing ways to reach consumers interactively. She noted that several marketers have already started integrating Internet applications into their campaigns. "It's going to be even more integrated," she said of campaigns in the future.