YouTube remains top online video website

The site that has become synonymous with online video, YouTube, remains the number one destination according to recent figures released by Hitwise.

by Helen Leggatt

YouTube’s lead in market share over other online video sites has widened considerably over the past year. Back in May, 2007, the online video site commanded 60% market share. May 2008 saw Google-owned YouTube with a massive 75.43% of the online video market.

MySpaceTV is YouTube’s nearest competitor with just 9%, a huge slide down from 44%, followed by Google Video (3.7%), Yahoo Video (1.92%) and Veoh (1.13%).

“YouTube continues to be the main destination for consumers to find and view online videos,” said Heather Dougherty, director of research, Hitwise. “The majority of searches driving traffic to the website are for the YouTube brand, highlighting [its] prominence and strong brand awareness in the video arena."