San Francisco — Facebook is speedily taking over the world — Google bumped after three years at the top. Facebook the most popular social-networking venue has now ranked as the most engaged website in the U.S., according to analytics firm Hitwise.
As the week ended March 13, 2010, Facebook has surpassed the previous most popular site, Google, in terms of overall traffic for the week, and this is the first time Google has not attained the top spot since 2007.
According to internet tracking firm Hitwise, Facebook accounted for 7.07 per cent of web visits, compared to Google’s 7.03 per cent.
Facebook claimed 7.07% for all U.S. web traffic, whereas Google was at 7.03%. However, that was sufficient to knock Google out of the top spot for the first time since the week ending Sept. 15, 2007.
Viewing the chart above, clearly indicates that Facebook has seen a firm rise in traffic since last year. Traffic at Facebook rose to 185% compared to the same week last year, whereas visits to Google increased only 9%.
“The market share of visits to Facebook.com grew 185% last week as compared to the same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased nine percent during the same time frame,” said Heather Dougherty, research director at Hitwise, in a blog posting.
“Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14 per cent of all US Internet visits last week.”
One explanation for Facebook’s achievement is features that make it easy to share information and online content with friends, says Matt Tatham, director of media relations at Hitwise. Google, of course makes it easy to find information on sites that you have never heard of and would never think to seek out on your own.
Granted that how close the numbers are, it is possible that the two companies could go back and forth for the honor of most visited site, says Tatham. Current trends favor Facebook, however: Its share of total visits increased 185% from the same week last year, compared with 9% growth for Google.
Last year, Facebook raced past the 300 million users milestone. That is 300 million people who have signed up for a Facebook account. Facebook was also the most engaged site on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, as well as the weekend of March 6-7. Facebook’s traffic dipped towards the end of last year but the success of games like Farmville have boosted traffic significantly.
The last time Google lost the most popular crown was September 2007, when MySpace displaced it.