Google Gets Top Eyeballs Scores, But Keeping Them Is Something Microsoft Does Better

There is no problem for Google to top the ranking of eyeballs scores. Still, the Mountain view company does have something to learn from Microsoft and Yahoo. Because while Google is the apex of the audience for top brands, keeping its users engaged is something of a problem, and something that Microsoft does considerably better while there is little comparison to Yahoo's results. In fact, Google and Microsoft are the only companies in the Nielsen//NetRatings report for top online U.S. data featuring multiple presences in the Top 10 Brands.

The Mountain View search giant has Google and YouTube, while the Redmond company accounts for Microsoft and MSN/Windows Live. By itself, Google attracted no less than 111 million unique visitors. Yahoo is the runner up top brand with 109 million, while Microsoft and MSN/Windows Live occupy the third and fourth positions with unique audiences of 95 million and 94 million, respectively.

Still, the sheer volume of visitors is insufficient to differentiate among these brands. This is why Nielsen//NetRatings also take into account the average time each person spends online with either Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. And in this context Yahoo is the clear leader, managing to keep users glued to the screens for over 3:21 hours. MSN/Windows Live comes next with 2 hours, followed by Google with 1:12 hours and Microsoft with just 42 minutes. But the true winner as far as top brands are concerned is AOL, whose users spend an average of over 4 hours online.

When it comes to top companies, Microsoft is the leader, as the positions shift. The Redmond company takes the lion's share of visitors with over 118 millions and on over 2 hours of average time per visit. Google comes next with 116 million and just 1 hour and 40 minutes and Yahoo is third with 110 million and almost 3 hours and a half per each visit.

"A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content", Nielsen//NetRatings revealed.