BitTorrent grows to 100 million users

By Laura Khalil Published January 3, 2011

BitTorrent reports impressive daily stats for its clients as well. Over 20 million daily active users downloading over 400,000 torrents on average.

BitTorrent creates advanced, innovative technologies to efficiently move large files across the Internet. BitTorrent is a protocol allowing users to download files quickly by allowing people downloading the file to upload, and thereby distribute, parts of it at the same time. BitTorrent is often used for distribution of very large files, very popular files and files available for free, since it’s generally cheaper, faster and more efficient to distribute files using BitTorrent than a regular download.

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The company’s two main products today include the original BitTorrent software and the tiny-but-mighty µTorrent, which combined boast over 100+ million users.

“This is an exciting day for our team. Our vision is to build a complete technology ecosystem comprised of software, content and devices, designed to connect modern content creators with a massive digital audience,” said Eric Klinker, CEO at BitTorrent. “This milestone highlights the size of our user base and the power of our software.”

The company has seen explosive growth, which may be helped by the fact that many of its competitors have been forced to shut down over the past year.

The company has tried to legitimize itself by creating partnerships with content creators. In 2010, BitTorrent unveiled new initiatives to make the BitTorrent user base more accessible to content creators, including a new Spotlight Artist program to help content creators distribute independent works. The company has also directly distributed a number of films in partnership with VODO, including Pioneer One, Yes Men, Four Eyed Monsters, and an album from PAZ.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Laura is a tech reporter for Digital Trends, the editor of Dorkbyte and a science blogger for PBS. She's been named one of…

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