Almost all of the action codes printed in the Top 100 magazines during Q4 were either QR Codes or Microsoft Tags (97%). At the beginning of the year, the market was closely split between QR codes and Microsoft Tags and they grew in parallel. However, in the middle of the year, the number of QR codes continued an upward trend, while Microsoft Tags remained within a relatively flat range. (See below.)

Overall, QR codes were the most widely used codes, accounting for 72% of all action codes. Microsoft Tag was in a strong second place with 25%.

Microsoft Tag was the code of choice for editorial and publisher use for the entire year:

• Q1: 57 of 58 editorial codes were Tag
• Q2: 115 of 123 editorial codes were Tag
• Q3: 90 of 102 editorial codes were Tag
• Q4: 163 of 174 editorial codes were Tag

Digital watermarks first entered the Top 100 list in December. Nellymoser believes this is the beginning of a trend.