Big Brother Brings Massive Internet Audience

Britons continue to be most interested in portals, search engines and conversational media when they are navigating the web. Although the largest part of the population prefers these three types of online applications, the number of people using them has been rather stagnant over the last months. In June, as a comScore report shows, other online branches won over the majority of the British Internet audience.

The entertainment-news industry attracted the largest number of new users - approximately 400,000, registering a 4% boost in relation to the previous month. The fragrances/cosmetics online sales were also highly popular with Britons, as 3% more people than in May chose to acquire such products directly from specialized webpages. Websites promoting jewelry, luxury goods and accessories were also among people's favorites, having a 2% month-to-month growth. The other two industries that reached ahead the competitors, winning 1%, were the career and search/navigation related ones. All the other websites either held on to their positions or slipped down in the chart.

Google sites continued to be most popular in the U.K., being followed by Microsoft, eBay, Yahoo! and BBC. AOL LLC scored the best advantage, as it gained 6 places, reaching the sixth position. comScore explains that the acquisition of the social network Bebo.com made AOL have a total of 17 million users in June, which stands for a considerably larger audience than in May.

General statistics cast aside, the web property that gained the most solid level of popularity in June was Channel4. With a plus of one million users, representing a 32% growth, Channel4 was the audience leader. The stupendous development was mostly driven by the success of Big Brother, the reality show, which is broadcast by the Channel4. By offering videos from the house and hosting the competitors' blogs, Channel4's website found the way for riding the crest of the wave. The John Lewis online retailing group also gained some popularity, as well as The Guardian webpages. They ranked second and third in the top of most rapid ascensions, with a 14% growth.