Microsoft sites most visited

Industry tracker comScore has released a study showing that web users in September spent more time at Microsoft websites than at any other online properties.

A record high population of 1.2 billion internet users ages 15 or older spent a total of nearly 27 billion hours online in September, according to the study.

"The internet continues to be a dynamic and growing environment around the world with the global online population climbing more than 20 per cent in the last year," said Jack Flanagan, comScore Media Metrix Executive Vice-President. Microsoft websites accounted for 14.5 per cent of minutes spent online worldwide in September, making it "the most engaging global property", comScore reported.

Google websites was ranked second overall, accounting for 9.3 per cent of people's internet time, followed by Yahoo and Facebook with 6.3 and 5.1 percent respectively.

Online video-sharing star YouTube accounted for almost half of the 2.5 billion hours people spent at Google websites, according to the study.

Nearly 70 per cent of the time spent at Microsoft websites was at the US software giant's Windows Live Messenger service, comScore reported.

Hours spent at leading social networking service Facebook nearly tripled from the same month a year earlier. Website popularity varied by region, with Microsoft properties finishing in top spots in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Yahoo commanded the largest share of online time in North America, said comScore.

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