A platform popular for search engine marketing initiatives, Google has been named the most visited website in 2011, according to a study cited in an article published by BBC News.
Market researcher Nielsen’s latest figures have shown that the search engine giant received 153 million unique visits each month.
Based on a collection of data gathered between January and October, Facebook was found to be the second most visited site – with just over 137.5 million visitors per month.
Yahoo rounded out the top three with around 130 million unique visitors per month.
Analysts have warned that Yahoo could see its visits drop significantly if younger users continue to move away from using web-based email.
A recent Comscore study found that younger users of the Internet were gradually moving away from using emails to communicate.
Ian Maude from Enders Analysis, referencing the Comscore study, said: “Yahoo’s basic problem is that people are no longer looking for an all-you-can-eat service and instead want best-in-breed.
“For Social networks that is Facebook, for search it’s Google,” he added.
“Email is a front door to Yahoo and if people are no longer using their service it will affect them more broadly. If Comscore’s data is an early indicator of a growing trend they have a major problem.”
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Since its launch back in February 2004, Facebook has seen unprecedented levels of growth – becoming the most popular social networking site in the world, with 800 million users.
According to an article published in the NY Daily News, Facebook has grown to such a level that, in some countries, half the population are registered to use the site.
In a blog post, market analyst firm Pingdom revealed: “Facebook currently has more than 800 million active users. With a world population having just passed the 7 billion barrier, that would mean that around 11 per cent of people on Earth are on Facebook.”
By comparing regional Facebook user figures with the actual population of select countries, Pingdom have calculated how popular Facebook is within those nations.
The figures show that almost 70 per cent of the population of Cyprus, 53 per cent of Hong Kong and 52 per cent of Chile are actively using Facebook.
The list also featured Singapore, Norway, Denmark (51 per cent) and the US (50 per cent); meanwhile around 49 per cent of the population in the UK are registered for the social network – figures that will prove interesting reading for social media marketing professionals.
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After an impressive start, Google+ is expected to reach 400 million users by the end of 2012 – if it keeps attracting users at its current rate – according to an article published by the Washington Post.
Current figures indicate that around 625,000 new users are registering for Google+ each day, according to figures released by Paul B. Allen, founder of Ancestry.com
Having dominated the search engine market for a number of years, Google is looking to provide Facebook and its 800 million users with some competition.
In a bid to attract new users, Google has regularly added new features to Google+ such as ‘Brand Pages’, which are expected to prove popular amongst social media marketing professionals.
Google spokeswoman Katie Watson declined to comment on Allen’s figures – which he has released as an unofficial statistician for the social networking site.
The company’s most recent official data release for Google+ in October, revealed that it had in excess of 40 million users.
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Despite being involved in what has been perceived as an ongoing battle with Facebook for social media supremacy, Google has revealed that it considers Microsoft to be its main rival, according to an article published by ZDNet UK.
Indicating that search still remains it main product, Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt said: “Today we have one very clear competitor, which is Microsoft. We used to have two, with Yahoo, but Yahoo largely outsourced the search stuff to Microsoft.”
Schmidt did acknowledge the threat posed by Facebook – a popular platform for social media marketing initiatives – adding: “We have additional competition from different corners, so Facebook is a competitor for a bunch of properties and also for attention.”
Concluding, Schmidt stated that he believed mobile technology would provide a number of new questions to be answered.
He said: “We’re more likely to face new competition – there’s lots coming – in these vertical applications that answer questions,” continuing: “People search differently on mobile phones – in the next year more searches will come off of mobile devices and page views than off PCs and Macs – that’s a huge, huge change and provides a new competitive front for us.”
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Recent figures released by Experian Hitwise have shown that social media site Pinterest has seen a huge surge in visitors to the site during the past six months, according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
Originally launched in March 2010, the invite-only social media site received almost 11 million visits in the week ending December 17, 2011 – around 40 times the number of visits registered on the site during the week ending June 18, 2011.
Pinterest allows its users to share their interests in images via a virtual pin board and is set to display a further growth in popularity during 2012.
Writing for Search Engine Watch, Greg Jarboe has suggested that, while Facebook, YouTube and Twitter remain as leaders in social media marketing, marketers should keep their eyes firmly placed on Pinterest during 2012 – as it ranked higher than Google+ on Experian Hitwise’s Top 10 Social Networking Sites in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
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Google has revealed that it will be paying Mozilla $300 million each year to ensure that its leading web search – popularly used for search engine marketing initiatives – remains as the main search engine on the Firefox browser, according to an article published by CNET.
While the announcement was originally made last week, financial terms of the agreement hadn’t been disclosed – with both parties declaring that the deal would simply provide “a significant and mutually beneficial revenue” source.
As a result of the deal, Google will now sit above other search engines – such as Yahoo, Amazon.com and Bing – in Mozilla’s Firefox browser.
The disclosure of the deal’s figure has led many commentators to speculate on how Google will use the opportunity.
Mozilla has previously stated that search engine deals provide it with the vast majority of its revenue. For last year alone, it was revealed that Google contributed around 84 per cent of the $123 million in revenue made by Mozilla during 2010.
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Facebook has once again topped the US list for the most searched terms, according to research conducted by Experian Hitwise and cited in an article published by Search Engine Watch.
It’s the third year in a row that the social networking giant – a platform popular for social media marketing initiatives – has topped the annual list.
Facebook login and Facebook.com also featured in the top five, which was rounded out by YouTube and Craigslist.
Simon Bradstock, general manager at Experian Hitwise attempted to explain the search trends of 2011 and how the company’s data could benefit marketing professionals.
He said: “Navigational searches dominated the top search results as users typed in terms versus typing in the URL in the browser bar. Hitwise saw 11 per cent growth of single-word searches in 2011 as terms like “face” and “you” made the top 50 searches.
“Marketers need to be particularly brand-savvy when managing their search optimization campaigns because of this behavior, which is a result of predictive search functionality across major search engines,” Bradstock continued.
He concluded, adding: “Other top 2011 searches reflect ongoing fascination with celebrities online, and many of the top fast-moving searches centered on natural disasters or notable personalities passing away.”
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Launched just recently, Google+ brand pages have proven to be fairly successful so far, with 77 brands from the top 100 operating a presence on the site – according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
Although these top 100 brands have a combined fan base of 300 million on Facebook, compared to just 148,000 on Google+, there are a number of brands that only have a Google+ page – including Vodafone and IBM, according to recent BrightEdge research.
CEO of BrightEdge, Jim Yu, revealed that Google+ Brand Pages – which are expected to be popular with social media marketing professionals in the coming months – were beginning to appear in SERPs (search engine results pages).
He said: “Google is embedding their popular new product with its dominant search marketing position, replicating the tie between social and search channels, just as Facebook’s Open Graph tied sites and search together earlier this year, blurring the lines between social and search engagement.
“Top 100 brands are realizing that they now need to address both channels. Now the real work begins, if they want to extend their social presence on the Web from Facebook to the new Google+,” Hu continued.
A study by PageLever earlier in the year showed that around 34 per cent of referrals to Facebook fan pages come from search engines – suggesting that Google’s decision to embed Google+ Brand Pages into search results could prove to be an astute move.
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Google has announced that it has signed a new contract to keep its place as the search engine of choice in Mozilla’s Firefox browser, according to an article published by V3.co.uk
Although none of the financial terms in the three-year agreement have been made public, the deal is expected to be worth a significant amount to Mozilla – who have previously stated that the majority of its royalties come from search engine deals.
A popular platform for search engine marketing initiatives, Google and Mozilla released a joint statement.
Alan Eustace, senior vice president of search at Google said: “Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come.”
Gary Kovacs, Mozilla’s chief executive, echoed the sentiment. He added: “Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world.”
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