We first wrote about Wakoopa when they launched in April. It’s a downloadable program for application addicts that tracks the software or games you use. We called it a Last.fm for applications, alluding to the program’s tracking and recommendation system similar to audio scrobbling.
While there are obvious privacy concerns (addressed here), over 17,000 people have signed up for the service (no word on downloads). The site draws half a million people each month to profiles for over 70,000 applications they track on Mac, PC and even the iPhone. To date, they’ve tracked about 110 million hours of software usage. Firefox is the top ranked app, with over half a million hours of use.
All this usage has generated some pretty interesting data that Wakoopa is now exposing through new Alexa-like graphs. Although Wakoopa will be officially launching the graphing feature tomorrow, TechCrunch readers can get access now by just adding “?techcrunch=true” to any URL(example). Like Alexa, the graphs show the relative rank and reach (% usage) of an application amongst their sample population. By first quarter next year, they’ll allow comparisons of up to 5 applications and embedding.
Granted, the sample population is pretty geeky. The current data reveals some kind of alternate universe where Firefox’s superior browser has finally usurped Explorer’s majority market share (see below). Yet even though it may be biased, the data gives a previously unseen look at highly valuable information about how we use our computers. For instance, Wakoopa has found Tuesday is the day users play games the least. They also found women spend twice as much time in Photoshop than men.
The team’s moving from Amsterdam to the valley next year, and I look forward to seeing what else they have planned for the product.
