Facebook top UK search term in 2011
Not only was Facebook the number one branded term (different searches that are all looking for the same result) but also the most searched for term overall in the U.K. Facebook was responsible for three of the top 10 most searched for terms in the U.K. last year: "facebook," "facebook login," and "fb."
As you can see in the table above, focusing purely on the top 10 branded search terms, "facebook" led the pack. U.K. users went to U.K.-specific URLs for sites that had them but Facebook, YouTube, and Hotmail were still in the top 10 despite their broader .com URLs. Four retail brands made the top 10 list (eBay, Amazon, Argos, and Next) and two news publications were also listed (BBC and Daily Mail).
"Search engines are the primary portal people use to get to where they want to go online. The place people want to go most online is Facebook," Hitwise marketing research analyst James Murray said in a statement. "Around two percent of all U.K. searches online are for the term 'Facebook,' which contributes to the website receiving more than one billion visits per month from British Internet users alone. Understanding the way people use search engines is crucial for marketers if they want to adapt their digital strategies to the fast-moving and constantly evolving online landscape."
See also:
- Google to Facebook: "We are delighted to be underestimated"
- Zuckerberg: Google, Microsoft collect data "behind your back"
- Facebook is destroying Google in time spent online (chart)
- Google: Facebook is becoming "a closed walled garden"
- Google starts indexing Facebook comments, AJAX/JavaScript content
- Sean Parker: Facebook's power users have gone to Twitter, Google+
- Facebook is not 20 times the size of Google+; it's even bigger