Facebook Topples Google as Most Visited Website in U.S.

Author: John Egan
Published: December 30, 2010 at 8:06 pm

In 2010, Facebook overtook Google as the most visited website in the United States, a new analysis shows.

Facebook was the No. 1 most visited website for the first time, accounting for 8.9 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, according to online research service Experian Hitwise. Google.com ranked second with 7.2 percent of visits, followed by Yahoo Mail (3.5 percent), Yahoo (3.3 percent) and YouTube (2.7 percent).

In 2009, the top five sites were Google.com, Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Yahoo and Myspace, according to Experian Hitwise.

Facebook also dominated search terms in 2010 in the United States.

Facebook was the No. 1 searched term overall. This is the second year that the social networking site has been the top search term, accounting for 2.1 percent of all searches, Experian Hitwise reported. Four variations of the term “facebook” were among the top 10 terms and accounted for 3.5 percent of all searches.

The term “facebook login” moved from the ninth spot in 2009 to the second spot in 2010. YouTube was the third most searched term in 2010, followed by craigslist, myspace and facebook.com. The Experian Hitwise analysis revealed that social networking-related terms represented 4.2 percent of the top 50 searches.

In 2009, the top five search terms were facebook, myspace, craigslist, youtube and yahoo mail.

Among the new terms that popped up in the top 50 in 2010 were netflix, verizon wireless, espn, chase, pogo, tagged, wells fargo, yellow pages, poptropica, games and hulu.

The top five searches for personalities in 2010 were:

1. Kim Kardashian
2. Oprah
3. Rush Limbaugh
4. Miley Cyrus
5. Glenn Beck

The top five searches for musicians in 2010 were:

1. Lady Gaga
2. Justin Bieber
3. Eminem
4. Taylor Swift
5. Michael Jackson

The top five searches for movies in 2010 were:

1. Star Wars
2. Paranormal Activity 2
3. Avatar
4. Transformers 3
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The top five searches for “branded” destinations in 2010 were:

1. Disney World
2. Disneyland
3. Six Flags
4. Universal Studios Orlando
5. Great Wolf Lodge

The top three searches for TV shows in 2010 were:

1. Dancing with the Stars
2. American Idol
3. The Young and the Restless

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About this article

Article Author: John Egan

A resident of Austin since 1999, John Egan has 25 years of experience in journalism, communications and public relations. From 1999 to 2006, he was editor and managing editor of the Austin Business Journal. John's business blog, called AustInnovation, is at http://austinnovation.com. …

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