Offline Installer or Downloader?

Well, I am not sure if I posted this in the right section, but here goes.

Just about everyone these days like Google, Mozilla, Microsoft - EVERYONE are not offering standalone installers by default anymore (and I am talking about freeware tools). I was wondering why this is the case, since I cannot think of any advantages of doing this. I can only think of the Advantages of an Offline Installer, but why do most of these companies offer only downloaders that will install the application? Wouldn't this cause higher network traffic? Also, it's a pain to use these things since you cannot always use them with a proxy and some people like me are forced to use a proxy all the time. Maybe someone can tell me why companies offer their software like this instead of making a full Offline installer?

 

Correct - you did not understand correctly. If you read line 1 carefully you'll notice that I said that these companies are not offering the offline installers by default anymore. I never said they do not exist, off course if you go and search for them you will find them {the offline installers}. But if you do not explicitly search for offline installers and go to the homepage directly, then you will find that the big download button directs you to a Web installer.

Let my clarify my question: Obviously the software providers want you to rather use the Web installer than the offline installer, which is why the primary option {which is always the biggest download button by Default} directs you to a Web Installer. In earlier days of the internet, Web Installers did not exist.

So I would like to know why are they becoming more and more common. In other words, why are they provided at all and what are the advantages of rather using a Web Installer? Some companies like Vipre Anti-Virus [initially] did not even have an Offline installer at all.