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MySpace Received 72 Percent of U.S Social
Networking Visits for May 2008
Average time spent increased 71 percent year-over-year;
Summer months popular among social networks
NEW YORK, NY – June 18, 2008 – MySpace.com received 72.73 percent of the market share of U.S. visits in May 2008 among a custom category of 58 of the leading social networking websites according to Hitwise. The market share of U.S. visits to the social networking custom category decreased 1 percent in May 2008 compared to April 2008 and has decreased 6 percent year-over-year.
Top 5 Social Networking Websites Ranked by Market Share of U.S. Internet Visits
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Note - data is based on a custom category of 58 of the leading social networking websites ranked by market share of U.S. visits, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. |
Among the top 10 social networking websites, Facebook ranked second by the market share of U.S. visits with 16.24 percent, followed by MyYearbook, which received 1.40 percent. MyYearbook experienced the largest gain in market share in May 2008 among the top five visited websites, increasing 384 percent compared to May 2007. Facebook and BlackPlanet followed, increasing 42 and 9 percent, respectively.
Seasonality of Social Networks
With school out for many students there is a good chance that the visits to social networking websites could increase during the summer months. Comparing the average percentage of U.S. visits for June-August 2007 to same period in 2006 saw an increase in visits by 38 percent. While the percentage of visits to our custom category of Social Networking websites is down 6 percent year-over-year, the May 2008 percentage, 6.54 percent, is up compared to the overall 2008 average, 6.21 percent, perhaps indicating an increase in traffic heading into these summer months. For more analysis on this seasonal trend please visit the Hitwise Research blog.
Bebo Tops among Average Time Spent
In May 2008, the average time spent among all social networking websites was 27 minutes and 21 minutes, representing an increase of 71 percent compared to May 2007. Among the top five most visited websites, MyYearbook led with users spending an average of 30 minutes and 51 seconds on the website. Facebook experienced the largest growth in average time spent, increasing 56 percent in May 2008 to 20 minutes and 21 seconds from 13 and 01 seconds in May 2007.
Average U.S. Time Spent for May 2008 (in minutes & seconds)
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Note - data is based on the average U.S. time spent from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. |
New and Returning
In May 2008, MySpace received 95 percent of its visits from returning visitors. Among the top five social networking websites by market share, Facebook and MyYearbook.com followed with 93 and 89 percent, respectively, of traffic returning from within the previous 30 days.
Market Share of U.S. Traffic from New and Returning Visitors for May 2008 - Ranked by Returning Visitors
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Note - a returning visitor is defined as a user that has visited the site in the past 30 days from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. |
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,400 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise’s patented methodology anonymously captures the online usage, search and conversion behavior of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian (FTS: EXPN) operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at Hitwise.
For up to date analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center.
