Microsoft Tag passes 5 billion tag marker

Microsoft have announced that the month of March accumulated the highest amount of tags scanned, since the launch of the mobile tagging service in January 2009. The software giant has printed more than five 5 billion tags in the two years, with a staggering 3 billion served in the last six months alone.

  • March had the greatest number of Tag scans since Tag launched in January 2009, with more than 50 percent more scans than any other month to date.
  • The number of scans per month has doubled over the past three months, and the number of users per month has increased 2.5 times in that same time frame.
  • Three billion Tags were printed during the past six months alone, and 5 billion Tags have been printed since Microsoft Tag’s January 2009 launch.
  • Publishing continues to lead among top industries adopting Tag, with retail scenarios and entertainment holding the second and third positions, respectively.

"Brand adoption and consumer engagement continue to build, with March being our strongest month to date, due to several high-profile, well-executed campaigns," explained Aaron Getz, General Manager of Microsoft Tag. "We continue to have tremendous success within publishing and also see increasing usage by retailers, consumer packaged goods companies and movie studios" he continued.

Tags are being introduced in a variety of different ways, allowing customers and consumers access to more content, information, media, contact detail, maps, social networking and much more. Simply using your mobile device's camera to scan the tag enables you to instantly enter into a gateway of relevant content. Several movie studios, including Summit Entertainment LLC and Universal Studios, have began placing Tags on movie ads, posters and packaging that link to movie trailers, interactive mobile games and exclusive content, increasing awareness. USA Today also began including tags and IFC displays tags on their channel.

Microsoft's Tag reader is available on a number of different smartphone platforms, including Android and Windows Phone 7.

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.