Microsoft Sites Captures Largest Online Share Of Time Spent On A Network

comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR) found that Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Sites captured nearly 15% of time spent online worldwide in September, making it the most engaging global property, followed by Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Sites and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) Sites. Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis, was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in August, up 193 percent from the previous year.

In September 2009, nearly 27 billion hours were spent on the Internet globally by a record online population of 1.2 billion Internet users age 15 and older. Microsoft Sites accounted for 14.5 percent of total minutes spent online in September, making it the most engaging global property, with Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger representing nearly 70 percent of time spent on the property during the month. Google Sites captured 9.3 percent of total minutes (2.5 billion hours), with YouTube accounting for nearly half of total time spent (1.2 billion hours) at the property. Yahoo! Sites ranked as the third most engaging Web property at 1.7 billion hours, followed by Facebook.com at 1.4 billion hours.