Microsoft #1 For Web Traffic

There may be lots of criticism about Microsoft's Web efforts, but don't lose sight of the fact that its Web sites have a larger audience, worldwide, than any other.

ComScore Networks said that in December Microsoft (MSFT) had 508.6 million visitors. Google (GOOG) sites were second, with 494.2 million, and Yahoo (YHOO) sites were third, with 476.8 million. Then the numbers drop with Time Warner's (TWX) network in fourth place with 260.4 million, and EBay (EBAY) in fifth, 251.4 million. Internet traffic, from Dec. '05 to Dec. '06, increased 10% to 741 million Internet users.

"Google’s popularity has been driven in part by its international appeal as well as the rapid uptake of some of Google’s applications beyond traditional Web search," said Bob Ivins, managing director of ComScore Europe. "Examples include the 40-percent year-over-year growth in visitors to Image Search, the 71-percent growth in visitors to Gmail, and the 62-percent growth in visitors to Maps."

The rapid growth of video on the Internet fueled much of the overall growth. ComScore said the multimedia category had a 37% increase in traffic, led, astonishingly, by a 2,000% increase in the number of visitors to YouTube.com.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Time Warner, EBay, and Google.

Comments

[eyekew:]

Traffic may be traffic, but if my personal experience is any guide, 90% of my visists to the MSFT website are for downloads or guidance on how the solve problems with their software. Does this count?

2007 Feb 01 05:37 AM

[Joseph Nunz...:]

It counts, but it only really "matters" if they're monetizing the space through advertisements.

2007 Feb 01 10:08 AM

[Eric Bingham:]

Nancy is correct and it's even worse. MSFT gets count for user "reach" that is generated via communications between your browser and its servers. There is no monetization (or even user knowledge) of this "traffic". But MSFT gets credit for this and other captive traffic which unlike the conscious visits to YHOO or GOOG, has little real value.

2007 Feb 01 01:01 PM

[Sr. Pessimist:]

Yah. The quality of traffic counts, too. You can't monetize an automatic update as easily as you can a voluntary search query. Some of this traffic is 3:00 am auto-updates. However, I suspect Microsoft can monetize even this, now that I heard myself say it. What if they steal information off the machines that send them live update feeds? Like, with all these viruses and holes and crap, who are we supposed to finger? There's apparently a hell of a lot of parties involved in writing exploits that can take a look at things on your system. Although doing this is illegal to the point of a justified beheading of all involved executives, what if Microsoft web traffic included illegally-acquired data stolen from the machines using exploit software, which went from black market hands to the Microsoft network of criminals, and ended up in the $12.6 billion revenues that Microsoft has in one year for whoever wants the information? I so seriously wouldn't be surprised. Capital knows no moral boundaries. Sociopaths are completely compatible with the moral code of capital, and abound at the helm of Microsoft Corp.

2007 Feb 02 12:39 AM