Bebo Set To Overtake eBay As Most Searched For Brand
Social networking site and MySpace rival, Bebo, is on target to overtake eBay as the most searched for UK brand on the internet, according to the latest analysis from Hitwise.
Since May, Bebo has been the second most searched for brand in the UK after eBay, measured as a share of UK internet searches by Hitwise, but Bebo’s rapid rise is narrowing the gap with eBay.
The market share of UK internet searches for Bebo has increased more than three-fold in the past six months and 17.6% in the past three months. The gap in the share of searches for eBay and Bebo was only 5% in the four weeks to 30 September 2006, down from 25% three months ago and 80% six months ago.
Bebo, MySpace and YouTube have joined Faceparty amongst the top 20 most searched for brands in the UK, comparing September 2005 and 2006.
“Bebo’s brand is benefiting from a great deal of buzz and its meteoric rise in share of UK internet searches reflects how quickly a brand can rise through viral channels,” said Heather Hopkins, vice president of research for Hitwise UK.
“This underscores how quickly a brand can reach mass awareness in the new economy, quickly overtaking stalwarts such as the BBC, Tesco and Argos. Bebo’s rise also reminds us that a brand can take the number two position, whilst going largely unnoticed by a broad segment of the population.”
She continued: “Whilst last year the top 20 online brands were clearly dominated by retailers, there is now an almost even balance between retailers and brands that support rich content through advertising. This rise of the advertising supported business model has been fuelled by continued growth in online advertising, as reported this week by the UK Internet Advertising Bureau.”