Facebook Overtakes Google American ‘In Popularity Contest’

Following the reported valuing of Facebook at $50bn after a deal involving Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, the world’s most popular social-networking site has been rated as 2010’s most visited Website in the United States, for the very first time. Of the total percentage of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, Facebook ranked 8.9%, with Google coming second with 7.2% of all visits according to Experian Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence service provider. The announcement confirms the social network’s progress in recent months after spending last year in third position and the year before ranked ninth.

Furthermore, the result which shows Facebook overtaking the likes of Google (America’s most visited Website 2008 and 2009) and MySpace (the most visited site in 2007, now ranked 7th) is not surprising considering the fact that since its launch about 6 years ago, Facebook’s popularity has consistently risen to over half a billion worldwide users. However, this is not the end of the road for Google, as is shown when all its services (such as, GMail and YouTube) are considered. Overall, Google is still the most visited Website, at 9.9% between January and November 2010, followed by Facebook at 8.9% and Yahoo at 8.1%.

Talking Point

What do you find most appealing about Facebook?