Google Passes Yahoo in Tally of Visitors

Google displaced Yahoo as the world’s second-most-visited Web site in November 2006 and closed in on the leader, Microsoft.

Visitors to Google’s sites rose 9.1 percent, to 475.7 million in November from a year earlier, while those to Yahoo sites rose 5.2 percent, to 475.3 million. Both sites trail Microsoft, which had 501.7 million visitors.

It was the first time that Google, based in Mountain View, California, attracted more visitors than Yahoo, reflecting Google’s growing popularity outside the United States. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, is still the most-visited site within the United States. Microsoft’s visitors increased 3.3 percent from a year earlier.

Visitors to Fox Interactive Media sites, owned by the News Corporation, rose almost fivefold, to 130.4 million, in November from a year ago, reflecting a surge from the purchase of MySpace.com.

Visitors at YouTube, bought by Google for $1.65 billion in November, rose more than 24-fold to 107.9 million.

Source: The NewYork Times