14 DAY TRIAL // While there is little room left for doubt that Microsoft is gunning after Google in every way possible in the face-off for Internet audience, there is a similar certitude that the Redmond company is the undisputed underdog, lagging behind the Mountain View search giant. But, at least in one facet of the race for eyeballs, Microsoft's chances look promising. After MSN Video swallowed Soapbox, the Redmond company's share on the online video market exploded. New statistics made available by comScore for the U.S., indicated strong growth for MSN Video, with 136 million viewers having watched on average three hours of streaming video as well as progressive downloads. Of course, YouTube is still the leader of the pack.
"September saw Americans view more than 9 billion videos online, with Google Sites once again ranking as the top U.S. video property with 2.6 billion videos viewed (28.3% share of videos), 2.5 billion of which occurred at YouTube.com (27.6%). Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 387 million (4.2%), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 381 million (4.1%) and Viacom Digital with 304 million (3.3%). Google Sites also captured the largest online video audience with 71.6 million unique viewers, followed by Fox Interactive Media with 41.2 million and Yahoo! Sites with 39.6 million," comScore revealed.
Microsoft websited served approximately 200 million videos in September, for a 2.1% share of the market, more than in July, when it accounted for just 1.6%. In addition, with 18.8 million unique viewers, Microsoft's Internet reach in the U.S. has jumped from 10.5% in mid 2007, to 15.4% in September, surpassing Viacom Digital hotspots in the process. Of course, YouTube is still far in the distance, not even on MSN Video's horizon at this point, but on the other hand, if the Redmond company manages to conserve its growth rate, it will also narrow down the gap that separates it from Google.