NEW YORK: Major web operators like Facebook, Google and YouTube are
enjoying an "increasing concentration of power" over the rest of their
US rivals, a study has shown.
Compete, the research firm, measured the position of the ten leading websites - including Facebook, the social network, Craigslist, the classifieds site, Google, the search engine, and YouTube, the video hub - on several metrics.
More specifically, the company was seeking to determine whether the theory of the "long tail", whereby the sheer amount of content available dilutes the strength of the premier players, was proved in practice.
Overall, the top ten services took a 34% share of page views in September 2011, which could be compared with a figure of 40% in November 2006 and 31% in November 2001.
However, as the number of internet domains has expanded by 11% since 2006 and "stretched out the power of the long tail", this decline can actually be framed as a consolidation given the weight of extra material available.
"In terms of the page views metric ... the trend that alluded to an increasing concentration of power in the hands of the top domains has seemed to stabilise," Compete said.
Facebook was the dominant US website in terms of page views during September 2011 with an 11% market share, matching the total of the top-ranked operator from 2001, which was Yahoo.
When assessing the proportion of online usage time dedicated by netizens to the top ten sites, Compete reported they collectively attracted 36% of "attention", up from 35% in 2006 and 30% in 2001.
By individual platform, Facebook again assumed the pre-eminent position for the 2011 analysis, on 15% of attention, ahead of YouTube on 6%, followed by Yahoo and Google, both on 4%.
In 2006, MySpace headed the rankings on 12%, beating Yahoo's 9% and eBay's 4%, the same score as Microsoft. Yahoo and MSN shared top spot in 2001, with 11% a piece.
"The top ten sites are garnering more and more of a user's entire time spent online," Compete said. "Although the change isn't as rapid as the growth from 2001 to 2006, we are seeing evidence to disprove the long tail theory with regard to engagement."
Data sourced from Compete; additional content by Warc staff, 5 December 2011
Compete, the research firm, measured the position of the ten leading websites - including Facebook, the social network, Craigslist, the classifieds site, Google, the search engine, and YouTube, the video hub - on several metrics.
More specifically, the company was seeking to determine whether the theory of the "long tail", whereby the sheer amount of content available dilutes the strength of the premier players, was proved in practice.
Overall, the top ten services took a 34% share of page views in September 2011, which could be compared with a figure of 40% in November 2006 and 31% in November 2001.
However, as the number of internet domains has expanded by 11% since 2006 and "stretched out the power of the long tail", this decline can actually be framed as a consolidation given the weight of extra material available.
"In terms of the page views metric ... the trend that alluded to an increasing concentration of power in the hands of the top domains has seemed to stabilise," Compete said.
Facebook was the dominant US website in terms of page views during September 2011 with an 11% market share, matching the total of the top-ranked operator from 2001, which was Yahoo.
When assessing the proportion of online usage time dedicated by netizens to the top ten sites, Compete reported they collectively attracted 36% of "attention", up from 35% in 2006 and 30% in 2001.
By individual platform, Facebook again assumed the pre-eminent position for the 2011 analysis, on 15% of attention, ahead of YouTube on 6%, followed by Yahoo and Google, both on 4%.
In 2006, MySpace headed the rankings on 12%, beating Yahoo's 9% and eBay's 4%, the same score as Microsoft. Yahoo and MSN shared top spot in 2001, with 11% a piece.
"The top ten sites are garnering more and more of a user's entire time spent online," Compete said. "Although the change isn't as rapid as the growth from 2001 to 2006, we are seeing evidence to disprove the long tail theory with regard to engagement."
Data sourced from Compete; additional content by Warc staff, 5 December 2011
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