On Thursday, other software companies even released "mediation" programs that enable QQ and 360 to run at the same time.

Tencent's public relations department said on Thursday that the company does not think the dispute will cause a loss of users, saying more than 116 million users logged on at the same time on Wednesday night - exceeding the second quarter's best of 109.4 million.

On the same day, 360 said in an e-mailed reply to China Daily that its security and browser software have seen a "slight increase" since the dispute started.

However, many netizens complain the fight between the two software giants has harmed their rights.

About 80 percent of the 1.5 million respondents polled on sina.com agreed with the statement that "the two companies were fighting for their own interests and not taking users' interests into account".

Zhu Wenqi, a professor in human rights from Renmin University of China, said the two companies were apparently using the privacy issue as an excuse to achieve their commercial goals.

Liu Jifeng, a professor in anti-monopoly from the China University of Political Science and Law, said companies must collect evidence before accusing each other of stealing and commercializing users' private information.