Bebo overtakes MySpace in the UK

Internet research firm Hitwise reports that Bebo  overtook MySpace in share of UK visits, rising to claim the number one position in the Hitwise UK Net Communities & Chat category on Saturday, 27 May 2006.

Bebo maintained a slight lead on MySpace on Sunday but fell behind once again on Monday. The two sites are virtually tied, with Bebo claiming a 2% lead for market share of visits on Saturday (with a 12.52% market share of visits to the Net Communities & Chat category, compared with 12.28% for MySpace) whilst MySpace claimed a 2% lead on Monday (13.20% market share of visits, compared with 12.95% for Bebo).

Bebo’s average session duration has also surpassed that of MySpace’s, overtaking it in the week ending 6 May 2006. Based on the strong growth Bebo is continuing to show in the two metrics, the gap looks set to widen in the weeks ahead.

“MySpace is not taking the competition from Bebo lying down,” said Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK. “It recently launched a UK version of MySpace, designed to better target content to the UK market, in particular featuring more UK music.”

Analysis of the search terms driving traffic to Bebo and MySpace reveals that the two sites, while appealing to a similar audience, are used for very different purposes.

Searches for bands, such as “lily allen”, “lostprophets” and “we are scientists” are driving significant traffic to MySpace, whilst searches for individuals with Bebo user profiles are among the top terms sending visits to Bebo.