Facebook Holds Commanding Lead In Search

The social network held four of the top 10 terms searched in 2010 and recorded more site visits than any other Web property, reported Experian Hitwise.

W. David Gardner, Contributor

December 30, 2010

2 Min Read
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The Facebook juggernaut just keeps on rolling, passing Google and Yahoo in search last summer, and by the end of the year running up a commanding lead that seems unsurpassable, according to Experian Hitwise's report on Internet searches for 2010.

The online market research firm found that Facebook Web sites captured four of the top 10 most-searched terms in 2010. Another online metric service, ComScore, reported earlier that Facebook passed Yahoo for the first time in July and overtook Google later that summer.

"When combined, common search terms -- e.g., facebook and facebook.com -- for Facebook accounted for 3.48% of all searches in the U.S. among the top 50 terms, which represents a 207% increase versus 2009," said an Experian Hitwise report released Wednesday. Four Facebook variations were listed in the top 10 rankings including Facebook (generic site), Facebook login, Facebook.com, and www.Facebook.com.

The other top 10 search terms, in order, were: Facebook, Facebook Login, YouTube, Craigslist, Myspace, Facebook.com, eBay, Yahoo, www.facebook.com, and Mapquest. Mapquest made its first recent appearance on the list, indicating the online mapping service may be undergoing a renaissance of sorts in the face of tough competition from Google and Microsoft.

In the "most-visited Web sites" category, Facebook.com passed Google, which held down second place, while Yahoo placed three sites in the top 10 rankings -- mail.yahoo.com, www.yahoo.com, and search.yahoo.com.

The top 10 Web sites, combined, accounted for 33% of all U.S. visits in the period surveyed.

SEE ALSO:

Facebook Overtakes Google As Top Online Destination

Facebook Traffic Up 60%

Facebook Could Challenge Google And Become The Remote Control For The Web

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