Facebook is Officially the Most Popular Website in the US

34 replies
I knew that sometime early this year it was going to happen, and this is the week it finally did. For quite some time the page views generated have been increasing steadily and it was inevitable that they would surpass google soon.

Well, for the first time for a whole week, facebook has surpassed google as the most popular website in the US. This is according to web analytics firm Hitwise

Many attribute a lot of the traffic to social games such as Farmville alone is estimated to have around 83 million users.

But the site is just conducive to people clicking and generating page views.

Sorry Google - lol
#facebook #officially #popular #website
  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    facebook is ALSO GREAT for posting ads right now too - it's cheaper, and you can target down to the city,age, interests- etc. I've tried a few ads on facebook before, got quite a few clicks for MUCH cheaper than the same results using adwords.
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    • Profile picture of the author ab420
      Originally Posted by eljeffe77 View Post

      facebook is ALSO GREAT for posting ads right now too - it's cheaper, and you can target down to the city,age, interests- etc. I've tried a few ads on facebook before, got quite a few clicks for MUCH cheaper than the same results using adwords.
      Facebook ads are very cheap, and like you said, they have a lot of good targeting options, but people rarely use them, which makes it a big waste of money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Online Bliss
    Most of my former classmates are in agreement to
    dump classmates.com and the $39.00 yearly fee
    for Facebook. I am rather sure that this will catch on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohsin Rasool
    As more and more my offline friends join facebook and become active...the more i find myself using Facebook. It is such a great tool to stay in touch with old friends and relatives
    who maybe now living far away from you.

    Facebook rocks

    Mohsin
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  • Profile picture of the author jedz
    Banned
    my head bows to facebook!
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    • Profile picture of the author howinfo
      I am not surprised at all. Do have a profile on a Facebook but have not really taken it as seriously as I should have done. I need to put some more effort into it and figure out how to properly benefit form Facebook.
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  • Profile picture of the author rapidscc
    Funny,

    My youngest daughter, 7 years old was asking her mom a while
    back to create her a facebook account. She said most of her
    classmates have one and plays Farmville, and she wants to
    connect with her classmates, specially the ones leaving school
    for another the coming school year.

    Facebook has that kind of appeal, a way to connect with
    people. No wonder it's such a hit, add to that the games
    and whala!

    All the best,
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  • Profile picture of the author oca101
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Taylor
      Originally Posted by oca101 View Post

      The biggest problem with Hitwise's numbers is that the company appears to include YouTube in the "social networks and forums" category that is challenging search. That's a questionable categorization of (Google's) YouTube, a site that some people call the 2nd-largest search engine on the web.
      YouTube has a built in search engine for YouTube. That doesn't make it a search engine. Google is a search engine. It catalogs content from external sites and provides a searchable index for them. This is not what YouTube does. You can only search for YouTube videos on YouTube.

      YouTube is a content site that includes social networking features, such as comments, video replies, ratings, favorites, thumbs up/thumbs down of comments, internal private messaging, friends lists, channel subscriptions, etc.

      It works, looks, and feels nothing like what we think of as a search engine...aside from the internal search feature.

      HitWise gave it the proper classification.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicky Papers
    Facebook CPC ads are great... when they get approved! You can convert on Facebook but you really need to keep at it and resubmit your ads too frequently for my liking. Once you find something that works, it's arbitrage baby!
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    • Profile picture of the author tmursch
      Google is not scared of Facebook... it is a fad just like Myspace.

      2009 revenue Google: $23.651 billion (confirmed)
      2009 revenue Facebook: $550 million to $1.5 billion (estimated)

      Chump change...
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      • Profile picture of the author spacebean
        An incredible feat! Facebook is an incredible marketing platform when used correctly. Ahh wow, make the next farmville or mafia wars and enjoy being rich.
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      • Profile picture of the author theemperor
        Originally Posted by tmursch View Post

        Google is not scared of Facebook... it is a fad just like Myspace.

        2009 revenue Google: $23.651 billion (confirmed)
        2009 revenue Facebook: $550 million to $1.5 billion (estimated)

        Chump change...
        It's not surprise FB gets more page views - Facebook is a way to pass time, Google is a direct tool for finding what you want. You achieve what you need in Google with less use, but when someone clicks a targeted ad based on what they search for it can be work a small fortune!
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  • Profile picture of the author askloz
    facebook is ranking #2 in alexa, Google #1, and youtube #3
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  • Profile picture of the author rypher21
    that becomes true each day...lots of people using this site
    an interactive networkin site...
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  • Profile picture of the author badboy_Nick
    I always knew Facebook would surpass Google in terms of activity. People "hang out" on facebook. Obviously generating more activity.

    But Facebook's business model is advertizing, just like Google. But as we all know, Facebook is YET to make a profit and the quality of it's advertizing space is horrendous compared to Google.

    Google 1 - FB - 0 I'd say
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  • Profile picture of the author affilorama-portal
    What I like about facebook is that it lets you post affiliate links on your profile or page. While I do not rely on that to promote products, it is still a very useful feature and undoubtedly added to the popularity of facebook.
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  • Profile picture of the author enwereuzo
    What is it that makes facebook huge.
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    • Profile picture of the author Derek Allen
      Originally Posted by enwereuzo View Post

      What is it that makes facebook huge.
      I think the reason facebook is so huge is because people get hooked on the fact that they can have their own space on the internet. The can keep in touch with people and find people of the same interest. Also, people love gossip and drama and facebook is the perfect avenue for people to stay in tune with that!

      Also, I have seen more and more college kids asking questions for their research papers and they get some really responsive answers. It is a really great overall platform for people of all ages.

      Plus, it is a great platform for marketers like us to gain leads, sales, etc... It is attracting lots of attention from us but most people think that they have to use facebook ads to be successful but that is not the case. Pages and groups are great ways to get your offers seen.

      It is social networking at it's finest!
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  • Profile picture of the author Derek Allen
    I love facebook. As if that is not obvious by now! LOL!

    It was only a matter of time before facebook passed google up. Google knew this was going to happen as well. That is why they came out with google buzz. I am working with google buzz right now and I feel like it has got nothing on facebook. Google is still the world best search engine in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author agent13mp
    Facebook has a real personally feel to it. even tho businesses are trying capitalize on its success it doesn't feel over run with ads like Myspace.

    your closest friends and workers are on your list and i think the white background make people put up more respectable images then Myspace
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  • Profile picture of the author badboy_Nick
    Heres a very interesting article from Business Week on Facebook's financial and future situation:

    6 Factors Why Facebook Can?t Make Money - Business Exchange

    Definitely worth reading.
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    • Profile picture of the author TommieKing
      I'm doing some market testing myself on Facebook and it looks very promising. They do have pretty strict guidelines but it is very doable.
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      • Profile picture of the author facebookexpert
        Originally Posted by TommieKing View Post

        I'm doing some market testing myself on Facebook and it looks very promising. They do have pretty strict guidelines but it is very doable.
        Guidelines are strict-ish indeed, but that plays in our advantage: once you master them, the Facebook world of 350M people is your oyster and you surpass all the amateurs in a matter of days.
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  • Profile picture of the author aduttonater
    Although Facebook is used by millions of people, that just means a slighter increase on the spam. Although marketing is very efficient on Facebook, I find many people contacting me more about their Mafia Wars games, then actual business.
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    • Profile picture of the author waynemartin2
      Facebook is a great site, in my opinion better than myspace. Seems like a good place to place ads, I will definately be doing some research on this as it does look very promising. Many marketers seem to be turning to facebook instead of Google adwords as its cheaper and more targeted. Looks like google at last has some serious competition.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    I know I got sucked into Facebook because I tend to date younger women.

    "Hey are you on Facebook?"

    "Facebook me..."

    Were things I would hear at parties and nightclubs from the women I talked to. Before I knew it I had a profile up. Another interesting thing that happened that about two years ago 100% of my real friends who had Myspace switched over to Facebook.

    I think Facebook is fun to use and while it's very popular, they've got some serious monetization challenges. It might go the way of Myspace if they don't find other revenue streams.

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffrey Arthur
    Great artcle Nick, most of what he said, ive thought about myself. Facebook's ads just arent clicked on as much as they or marketers hope. Yes they are cheap compared to adwords but the CTR just arent there.

    I have been playing around with them myself, but havent seen anything stellar so far. People just dont really click on the ads. For now im just using it as a test bed, and hopefully i will see the conversions increase.

    Has anyone else experimented wih Facebook ads? and actually have some good success?

    JA
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  • Profile picture of the author FloridaRay
    I personally think classmates.com is useless. Facebook can do everything and more so it seems. As long as you have a year-book handy.
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  • Profile picture of the author HungryFish
    I'm not a big social networking guy (ok, I am not a social person at all) and I don't see the allure to Facebook. I didn't realize FB was that big, maybe I should log in and see what it is all about?
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  • Profile picture of the author Valiant
    I agree in that classmates.com doesn't compare to Facebook (to me at least). Facebook has grown over the years. Undoubtedly, it is one of the top social networking sites now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sancho Sanches
    Originally Posted by cellcom View Post

    Facebook is Officially the Most Popular Website in the US
    Hmm. That's not very flattering for the US.
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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    For now FB is kicking it with Google but the question is, does FB have the ability or the funds to hang there with Big G. Google has a steady reputation so unless FB can figure out their next move then its almost a temporary stay I think. What do you think?.
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