Bebo Becomes Most Searched For Brand In UK
The term “bebo” has become the number one search term based on volume of UK internet searches, overtaking “eBay”, which has held the spot for all but one week in the past two years, according to new research from Hitwise.
The online intelligence service said that except for one week in September 2006, the term “eBay” has topped the list as the highest volume search term in the UK. However, Bebo again became the number one most searched for term in the UK for the week ending 26 May 2007 and has held the number one position for the past three weeks.
Share of UK internet searches for “bebo” have increased three-fold in the past year and two-fold in the past six months.
For the month of May, Bebo ranked number six among All Categories of websites based on share of UK internet visits, up from number eight in April. Bebo now ranks behind Google UK, eBay UK, Windows Live Hotmail, Google.com and MSN UK.
In April, Bebo hired Angel Gambino, a former senior executive at MTV, to the role of vice president of music in a move intended to expand the site’s appeal (see Bebo Gets Gambino For Music Push).
| Top 10 Websites ranked by share of UK visits, May 2007 | |||
| Rank | Name | Domain | Market Share |
| 1 | Google UK | www.google.co.uk | 8.20% |
| 2 | eBay UK | www.ebay.co.uk | 2.70% |
| 3 | Windows Live Hotmail | www.hotmail.com | 2.64% |
| 4 | www.google.com | 2.44% | |
| 5 | MSN UK | uk.msn.com | 1.54% |
| 6 | Bebo | www.bebo.com | 1.52% |
| 7 | Orange | www.orange.co.uk | 1.47% |
| 8 | MySpace | www.myspace.com | 1.36% |
| 9 | Yahoo! Europe Mail | uk.mail.yahoo.com | 1.24% |
| 10 | Yahoo! UK & Ireland | uk.yahoo.com | 0.91% |
| Source: Hitwise | |||
Recent research from comScore said that Facebook, the social networking website, now has more than 3.5 million users in the UK, following a massive surge in popularity in the past six months (see Facebook Records Surge In UK Users).
Bebo: www.bebo.com