Microsoft, Google, Yahoo on Top of the World

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo account for the largest volumes of audience on the world wide web. According to Internet metrics firm Nielsen//NetRatings, the three web giants account for the top positions in both a ranking based on parent company and on brand. Nielsen//NetRatings has taken into account not only the number of unique audience, but also the amount of time spent online by each visitor, on destinations owned by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. "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.

Microsoft is top parent company in July with a unique audience of over 121 million. Nielsen//NetRatings indicated that each visitor spent on average more than two hours on a Microsoft domain. Google is runner up in the parent companies ranking with approximately 118 million unique visitors and an average time of one hour and a half for each person. Yahoo is third managing to attract no less than 111 million visitors, but succeeding in keeping them online an average of almost three hours. It is clear that the monopoly on the operating system market is giving Microsoft the edge when it comes down to connecting users with the all the domains and URLs associated with the company.

Still, the statistics are a tad different when it comes down to the top brands. In this context, Google has the upper hand. Nielsen//NetRatings indicates that Google attracted some 111 million visitors with an average time per person of a little over one hour. Yahoo comes second, but very close to Google with a unique audience of 110 million but yet again with the top average time per visit a tad shy of three hours. Microsoft MSN/Windows Live attracted 100 million unique visitors with an average time of two hours, while the Redmond company itself was accessed by over 94 million visitors spending some 40 minutes online.