What is Chinese users' response to 360 vs. QQ war? An analysis of web traffic data

360 vs. QQ war, which happened between September 27 and November 21, 2010, was regarded as “desktop nuclear war” in China's internet history. This paper analyzed web traffic data between October, 2010 and March, 2011, which were provided by Alexa, a web information company, on its web site, to study Chinese users' response to 360 vs. QQ war. Among all actions that 360 and QQ took in the whole process, only those of immediate concern to users led to their behavioral changes. By appearance, 360 vs. QQ war doesn't affect QQ's web traffic because of users' heavy dependence on it, and 360 even acquired wide and temporal attention during war. Although the war smoke is dispersed, its effect continues. After the war, Chinese users are beginning to look for the substitutes of 360 and QQ, and the structure of China's internet market is loosening.