As part of their concerted effort against Microsoft  , Real Networks, Google, and the Mozilla Corp. announced yesterday they will work closely to distribute each other's products. For the next few years at least, when you download RealPlayer's multimedia player, you will also have the opportunity to get the Google Toolbar and the latest Firefox browser. All are available for free.
Under the new, multi-year agreement, the browser and toolbar will also be offered with downloads of the client for RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service or RealArcade games.
"More Integrated Experience"
For Real and Google, this extends a previous two-year agreement, in which millions of Google Toolbars have been similarly distributed. The three companies have been battling, respectively, the media player, search engine and browser from Microsoft.
The average consumer who chooses these downloads "will get a more integrated experience between Web and media," said Samir Bhavnani, Director of Research at technology research firm Current Analysis. Not having to go to a Web site to retrieve a new browser version or media player, or to access the "search" function, he said, is a time-saver for consumers.
As for the three partnering companies, Bhavnani noted, this will help in their struggle against Microsoft, since all of them have the goal of "getting more of their products on the desktop." Joining forces also potentially extends their advertising reach, he added. While financial details of the deal were not announced, Bhavnani said he expected they might share ad revenue.
Firefox at 11.3 Percent
The deal could increase Firefox's momentum. According to Net Applications, a traffic measurement firm, Firefox now has 11.3 percent of the global browser market. On Monday, the Mozilla Corp. said that the browser, in both its 1.0 and 1.5 versions, had been downloaded 200 million times. Version 2.0 is now in beta release, ready to battle with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7, also now in beta.
For toolbar-based searches, the Google Toolbar accounts for 49.1 percent, according to ComScore Networks, an Internet information consulting company. Yahoo's toolbar accounts for most of the remainder.
RealPlayer, available at www.real.com, is a frequently downloaded multimedia player. The Seattle-based company said that more than two million downloads of software content are distributed to its user base every day, worldwide.
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