MUMBAI: comScore Networks, which provides
measurement services for the internet and other digital media has revealed the top UK Internet properties for October, based on data collected through its comScore World Metrix audience ratings service.

The world‘s most valuable media firm Google (not including its recent acquisition YouTube) edged out software major Microsoft in October to become the most-visited Web property in the UK. eBay is in third position.

Yahoo!, BBC and Time Warner are also present in the top 10 most popular sites in the UK. comScore Europe MD Bob Ivins says, "We have watched the popularity of Google consistently grow over time. While the current month-over-month increase was small, it was just enough to earn them the number one spot.

"Also notable was YouTube‘s 24 per cent increase in traffic in October. YouTube‘s ascent in popularity around the world and in the UK, demonstrated by the site‘s month-after-month double-digit percentage increases, has been remarkable."

It‘s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Retail sites represented nearly half of the top 20 gaining sites in the U.K. in October, indicating an early interest in holiday shopping. Leading the top gainers were Woolworths Group with 2.6 million visitors and HMV with 2.4 million visitors, growing 65 and 30 per cent respectively.

UK traffic to the Wal-Mart Web property, which includes ASDA, grew 14 per cent to 2.3 million visitors. Littlewoods Shop Direct Group grew 12 per cent to 3.9 million visitors, followed by Tesco Stores (also a top 20 site), which
grew 12 per cent to 6.7 million visitors. Other retail sites rounding out the list of top gainers include Marks&Spencer, up 10 per cent to 2.4 million visitors; Play.com sites, up 10 percent to 3.6 million visitors; and Dixons Stores Group, up 10 percent to 4.2 million visitors.

In addition to shopping, Britons were pparently busy booking holiday travel in October, with traffic to British Airways gaining 26 percent to 3.5 million visitors and British Midland gaining 11 per cent to 2.6 million visitors.