Most popular UK sites of 2007 revealed

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, has reviewed 2007 online to reveal the most successful sites in the UK by popularity, growth and audience behaviour.

Winners by overall UK Internet behaviour

• Google Search was the most popular website in the UK in 2007, averaging 25.1 million British visitors each month

Most popular

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Jan 2007- Dec 2007

E.g. Google Search was visited by an average of 25.1 million Britons each month in 2007

• Beat That Quote was the fastest growing website across 2007 - growing 1,165% from 31,000 Britons in Dec 06 to 392,000 in Dec 07

Fastest growing

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Dec 2006 - Dec 2007

E.g. Beat That Quote’s Unique UK Audience grew from 31,000 in Dec 06 to 392,000 in Dec 07 – a growth of 1,165%

• Britons in total averaged 2.8 billion minutes on MSN/WL Messenger each month – making it the most engaging website/application, overall, in 2007 in the UK

Most engaging

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Jan 2007- Dec 2007

E.g. Britons totalled an average of 2.8 billion minutes on MSN Messenger each month in 2007

• Britons in total averaged 371 million sessions on Google Search each month – making it the most visited website in 2007 in the UK

Most visited

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Jan 2007- Dec 2007

E.g. Britons totalled an average of 371 million sessions on Google Search each month in 2007

Alex Burmaster, Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online, “Google Search, MSN/Windows Live Messenger and eBay were the most popular and most heavily used single web services across 2007. Notable mentions also go to MSN/Windows Live Hotmail, which was the third most visited service in the UK and Facebook, which had the third highest number of pages viewed (2.2 billion) behind eBay (3.8 billion) and Google Search (2.5 billion).

Many will be surprised to see that Facebook wasn’t the fastest growing site of the year, this honour went to price comparison site Beat That Quote – a reminder that the Internet provides valuable services other than virtually poking friends and acquaintances.”

Winners by individual UK Internet behaviour

• In 2007, virtual world, Second Life, averaged 13 hours 18 minutes per British visitor – making it the most engaging website/application, per visitor, in the UK

Most engaging per visitor

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Jan 2007- Dec 2007

E.g. in 2007 the average British visitor to Second Life spent 13 hours 18 minutes in it a month

• Yahoo! Widgets was the stickiest application/website in 2007, the average British visitor going there 23 times each month

Stickiest

Source: Nielsen Online, UK NetView, home & work data, including applications, Jan 2007- Dec 2007

E.g. in 2007 the average British visitor to Yahoo! Widgets went there 23 times a month

“The most successful sites by individual behaviour are in stark contrast to the overall web giants. Games sites such as Playandwin, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and Pokémon Crater (third in terms of pages per visitor), although not as universally popular, evoke heavier usage amongst their niche of visitors. Take the most popular virtual world, Second Life – it reaches less than half of one percent of Britons online, but these visitors average over a massive thirteen hours per month.

In terms of ‘stickiness’, however, services from the large portals tend to perform strongest. Yahoo!’s widget service has people coming back on an almost daily basis and AOL’s Email service and MSN/Windows Live Messenger visitors tend to go there two in every three days.”