UK traffic to video websites up 40.7%
UK internet traffic to video websites has increased by 40.7% over the last 12 months, according to new research from online intelligence firm Hitwise.
During February 2009, 1 in every 35 UK internet visits went to a specialist video website, the company said, up from 1 in every 50 in February 2008.
YouTube is the most popular video website in the UK, picking up 62.9% of visits to video websites during February 2009. YouTube is also the second most popular destination for music searches in the UK and the sixth most visited website overall.
BBC iPlayer is the second most visited video website in the UK, attracting 11.2% of visits to the category during February 2009. UK internet traffic to iPlayer has increased by 152.1% over the last 12 months, and the BBC service is now the 22nd most visited website in the UK, said Hitwise.
| Top 10 Video websites, based on market share of UK Internet visits to a Hitwise custom category of video websites, February 2009 | ||
| 1 | YouTube | 62.9% |
| 2 | BBC iPlayer | 11.2% |
| 3 | Google Video | 2.0% |
| 4 | MegaVideo | 1.5% |
| 5 | MSN Video | 1.4% |
| 6 | Google Video UK | 1.3% |
| 7 | Channel 4 TV | 1.3% |
| 8 | MetaCafe | 1.2% |
| 9 | Vuze | 1.2% |
| 10 | Daily Motion | 1.1% |
| Source: Hitwise | ||
Robin Goad, director of research for Hitwise in the UK, said: “Video is now a key component of the online landscape in the UK.”
He added: “Three years ago YouTube was still in its infancy and slow connections meant that online video wasn’t a viable option for many Internet users. Since then UK internet traffic to video sites has increased 37-fold, and a growing number of sites now include video content.
“Our research highlights the growth in video-specific websites, but if you were to add in all of the other sites that now include video – from newspapers to retailers – the numbers would be even higher.”