comScore: Microsoft commands much of users' online time

When it comes to Internet rankings, Google is often up in the number one spot. But recent comScore data shows Microsoft way ahead of Google and Yahoo when it comes to the amount of time people spend on their online properties.

by Helen Leggatt

According to comScore's September figures, Microsoft leads Google when it comes to time spent online - 3.9 billion hours vs. 2.5 billion hours - capturing 15% of the total time spent online, globally, in that month.

Meanwhile, Yahoo's share of online time decreased 14% to 1.7 billion.

It was a record month for Internet use with a record high online population of 1.2 billion (aged 15 years and over) spending nearly 27 billion hours online, found the report.

"The Internet continues to be a dynamic and growing environment around the world with the global online population climbing more than 20% in the last year," said comScore Media Metrix executive vice president Jack Flanagan.

Facebook showed the largest increase, rising 193% from 474 billion hours in September 2008 to 1,387 billion in September 2009. In the U.S., Facebook already accounts for over 8% of all ad impressions.