Traffic to social networks in the UK such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounted for 11.88% of all traffic in the country in May 2010, passing the search engines with 11.33%, according to Hitwise.
Such changes in online user behaviour are fascinating, but especially for the travel sector where search is such an important part of the discovery process.
First of all the data indicates how omnipresent social networks have become in everyday web use - in this case, Facebook takes a mammoth 55% share of all social networking traffic. As Facebook integrates such features as Facebook Questions then it would be logical to presume that they will use social media for search even more. And Twitter, for example, can be a reasonably useful search engine for mentions about destinations or travel brands.
So what does this mean for travel? A social media strategy should be one of the most important areas in a marketing plan. Travel companies must create profiles on social networking sites, especially Facebook.
Monitoring social media activity should be a requirement, not something that is done haphazardly.
Companies must engage with users on social networks, understand where and what the conversation is.
Every part of the marketing plan must be joined up - offline-to-online-to-social. Search engine optimisation and keyword buying should have a social element. (tnooz - talking travel tech, June 2010)
Experian Hitwise revealed the top social networking websites in the UK for the week ending May 22 2010 in ranked by visits.
Top 10 websites for the industry "Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums", ranked by Visits for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. Facebook : 55.54%
2. YouTube : 16.29%
3. Twitter : 2.04%
4. MySpace : 1.18%
5. Bebo : 1.16%
6. Yahoo! Answers : 1.03%
7. Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers : 0.70%
8. Stumble Upon : 0.58%
9. Windows Live Home : 0.55%
10. Moneysavingexpert.com Forums : 0.42%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)
Most UK internet users are becoming more knowledgeable about security issues and less willing to provide personal information online, according to Ofcom's Media Literacy reports, which reveal the UK's media consumption habits and attitudes. It reveals that 80% of adults with a social networking profile are now more likely to only allow friends or family to see it, compared to 48% in 2007.
Almost half of adult internet users in Scotland say they have set up a social networking profile (49%) compared with 46% in Wales, 44% in England and 31% in Northern Ireland. (Ofcom, May 2010)
UK internet users spent 65% more time online in April 2010 than they did during the same month in 2007, according to data issued by the UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM), and collected by Nielsen.
That growth was driven by social networks and blogs, and online news content, as those categories witnessed 159% and 84% growth, respectively, over the three-year period, according to UKOM. By contrast, use of instant messaging services suffered greatly, with users spending 66% less time with them in 2010 than they did in 2007.
Overall, UKOM suggests social networking now accounts for almost a quarter of UK users' time online, at 22.7%, followed by e-mail which accounts for 7.2% of their online activity, and gaming at 6.9%.
Users spent a total of 884 million hours online during the course of the month, UKOM estimates.
Leading UK online sectors in April 2010 by share of total UK internet time:
1. Social Networks/Blogs: 22.7% (+159% compared to April 2007)
2. Email: 7.2% (+11%)
3. Games: 6.9% (+15%)
4. Instant Messaging: 4.9% (-66%)
5. Classifieds/Auctions: 4.7% (-6%)
6. Portals: 4.0% (+10%)
7. Search: 4.0% (-3%)
8. Software Info/Products: 3.4% (-36%)
9. News: 2.8% (+84%)
10. Adult: 2.7% (-3%)
Other: 36.8% (-13%)
(ClickZ, May 2010)
Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 as it surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week. Facebook.com reached the #1 ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. The market share of visits to Facebook.com increased 185% for the week ending March 13, as compared to the same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased 9% during the same time frame. Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14% of all US internet visits for the week.
What about the UK? Facebook is the second most visited website in the UK (and has been for a while now) but Google.co.uk remains ahead of it, according to Robin Goad, research director, Hitwise UK. For the week ending March 13, Google.co.uk picked up 9.34% of UK internet visits, while Facebook accounted for 6.01%. In the US, the respective figures were 7.03% (for Google.com) and 7.07%.
There are two main reasons why Facebook hasn't yet caught up with Google in the UK (and doesn't seem likely to do so in the foreseeable future), according to Goad:
1. Facebook has a very similar share of the social networking markets in both the UK and US (51.9% and 51.3% respectively last week), but social networking is slightly more popular in the US, so Facebook's share of all internet visits is higher in there.
2. Google has a larger share of the search market in the UK (over 90%) than in the US (just over 70%), and search engines as a category are also more popular on this side of the Atlantic.
(EyeForTravel, March 2010)
Marketers and brands using social networks will soon find their activities in those spaces regulated by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, following recommendations submitted by the Advertising Association. The proposed amendment to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code (expected to be in force by September 2010) will extend the regulatory framework currently in place for paid online ads to all other online marketing communications. As a result, claims from marketers on their own Web sites and third-party sites like social networks will now be subject to ASA scrutiny, as they are in TV, print, and other forms of online advertising.
The code is designed to ensure that ads do not offend or mislead, and that they respect specific laws relating to the marketing of alcohol, gambling, auto, health, and financial products. The code will also apply to content on marketers' own Web sites. (ClickZ, March 2010)
Mobile carrier Orange UK said it is working to integrate popular social networking platform Twitter into its own service offerings, including TV as well as mobile and web.
In a pan-European move, but launching first in the UK, Orange will integrate Twitter features into its mobile service, allowing users the ability to upload and share photos with their Twitter followers via MMS. SMS-based tweets will be rolled into the standard mobile plan and users will be able to set times for receiving tweets, chose a maximum number of daily tweets and chose to receive updates in real time, hourly or daily.
Interestingly, Orange has said it will also explore ways of integrating Twitter into its IPTV platform to create interactive Twitter feeds that will run during and alongside programmes and will embed the service within Orange web portals from 2010.
Twitter will be implemented first in UK, followed by France, Spain, Poland in 2009. It will then roll out across the rest of the Orange European footprint in 2010.
The platform will be added to Orange's social media aggregation service "Social Life" in the UK, "Mes communautés" in France or "My Social Place" in Spain, alongside Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and a range of other popular social sites. (Telecoms.com, November 2009)
Facebook accounted for almost 15% of all UK pageviews in September 2009, according to data from Experian Hitwise. Although the social network continues to trail Google in terms of unique visitors, it generated almost three times as many pageviews during the course of the month, with Google's U.K. site attracting 5.8% of views, followed closely by eBay with a 5.5% share.
However, the overall market share of Google-owned sites (factoring in properties such as YouTube and its GMail product) is somewhat higher at 11.8%.
In addition, Hitwise reported that UK internet visits to the Facebook site increased by 86.1% between September 2008 and September 2009, and accounted for 49.2% of UK visits to a social networking site during the month.
Top 10 UK webistes by share of page views, September 2009:
1. Facebook: 14.5% of share of page views
2. Google UK: 5.8%
3. eBay UK: 5.5 %
4. YouTube: 2.5%
5. Windows Live Mail: 1.9%
6. Gmail: 1.7%
7. Bebo: 1.5%
8. Yahoo UK & Ireland Mail: 1.1%
9. Google.com: 0.9%
10. Google UK Image Search: 0.9%
(ClickZ, October 2009)
For the first time, Twitter received more UK internet visits than MySpace for the week ending 29/08/09. Twitter.com picked up 1 in every 400 UK internet visits and ranked as the 27th most visited website in the UK, one position above MySpace.
Hitwise noted a couple of points worth considering:
- If anything, Twitter is even more popular than their numbers imply, as they are only measuring traffic to the main Twitter website. If the people accessing their Twitter accounts via mobile phones and third party applications (such as Twitterrific, Twitterfeed and Tweetdeck) were included, the numbers would be even higher. Of course, MySpace also picks up a significant amount of traffic outside of the MySpace.com domain, particularly via mobile platforms.
- The social networking rankings are changing pretty fast in the UK.
Most popular websites in Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums - week ending August 29, 2009:
1. Facebook: 47.50% of visits
2. YouTube: 16.63%
3. Bebo: 4.26%
4. Twitter: 2.21%
5. MySpace: 2.21%
6. Yahoo! Answers: 1.21%
7. Tagged: 0.64%
8. Windows Live Home: 0.60%
9. Gumtree.com: 0.58%
10. Google Video UK: 0.57%
(Experian Hitwise, September 2009)
Social networking sites accounted for 13.8 billion display ad impressions in August 2009 in the UK, representing more than 25% of all display ads viewed online in the country, according to the results of a study of UK online display advertising on social networking sites by comScore.
Of the top 10 advertiser categories on social networking sites, teen content advertisers like Habbo and NHS-owned TeenLifeCheck delivered the highest proportion of their ad impressions in the social networking category at 37.3%. Online dating advertisers (33.8%) and retail advertisers (30.1%) also delivered an above average (25.5% total internet) proportion of their ads in the site category. The figure for the travel industry stood at 11.5%.
A demographic analysis of display ads on social networking sites in the UK revealed that while ad delivery skewed somewhat younger than average, all age segments were reached with a notable percentage of display ads. 15-24 year olds were the highest indexing age segment, accounting for 29% of display ad impressions while representing 23% of the total category audience. Those between the ages of 25-44 received ads at a slightly higher than average rate, while those 45 and older received ads at a lower than average rate. Each of the five age segments accounted for at least 15% of the category audience and 10% of ad impressions. (Comscore, October 2009)
The number of adults signing up to social networking sites has almost doubled in the last two years, according to new Ofcom research. It reveals that 38% of UK internet users now have a social networking site profile - up from 22% in 2007.
At the same time people are also becoming more cautious about sharing their personal information online. Three quarters of those with a social networking profile now say that it can only be seen by family and friends - up from 48% in 2007. (Ofcom, October 2009)
Despite recent suggestions that teens and young adults are losing interest in social networks, data by comScore suggests that, in the UK at least, they're simply gravitating towards one in particular - Facebook. Although 15- to 24-year-olds are spending 9% less time overall on social networking sites, comScore found the number of users in that age bracket reached 6.8 million in June 2009, up 14% from the previous year. The decline in overall engagement is attributable to younger users spending less time on secondary sites behind Facebook. (ClickZ, August 2009)
The top ten online brands (including Facebook, Google, eBay and YouTube) accounted for almost half of all UK internet time in April 2009, according to research by Nielsen Online. The share of time taken up by the top ten brands has increased from 42% in April 2008 to 45% of total UK internet time in April 2009.
Facebook accounts for 13% of all UK internet time and is the most heavily used internet brand. Facebook and MSN/Windows Live are the top two most heavily used online brands and together account for around 11 billion of the 48 billion minutes that Britons spend online, equivalent to one in every five minutes spent on the internet. The remaining 55% of online time is shared among 7,625 web brands.
The average Briton spent 22 hours and 20 minutes online or using internet-related applications in April 2009, representing a 34% increase from last year when the figure was 16 hours and 36 minutes, according to Nielsen. (IMRG, May 2009)
39% of UK internet users (or more than 15.4 million people) will use social networks at least once per month in 2009, according to eMarketer. And growth will continue, though at slightly slower rates after 2010. By 2013, the social networking population in the UK will reach 21.9 million and represent 50% of internet users.
UK online social network users, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 13.3 million (35.0% of internet users)
- 2009: 15.4 million (39.0%)
- 2010: 17.5 million (43.0%)
- 2011: 19.2 million (46.0%)
- 2012: 20.5 million (48.0%)
- 2013: 21.9 million (50.0%)
Most early adopters of social media in the UK were young and male, according to eMarketer. And while older users (especially those ages 65 and older) still lag in social media usage, the appeal of Facebook and the spread of professional social networking among UK employees are boosting take-up in other age groups. The all-important user group, UK women, is also warming to social networking, forums and blogging. (eMarketer, April 2009)
UK internet visits to Twitter have increased 6-fold since the start of 2009 and 32-fold over the last 12 months (between March 2008 and March 2009), according to Hitwise. During the week ending 4/4/09, Twitter entered the top 50 websites in the UK, becoming the 5th most popular social networking site. To put that figure into context, Twitter received more UK internet visits in this period than the Daily Mail, RightMove, MSN UK Search, Directgov, and all retail websites with the exception of eBay, Amazon UK, Play.com and Argos.
During March, Twitter's largest source of UK internet traffic came from Facebook (accounting for 18.2% of its traffic), presumably a result of the integration between Twitter updates and Facebook status feeds. As well as being the 50th most visited website in the UK, it was also the 36th biggest source of traffic to other websites in the UK during March.
Like Facebook, Twitter sends the largest amount of its traffic to other online media websites. The top four downstream categories from Twitter are Entertainment, Social Networks, News & Media and Lifestyle, which together accounted for half of all post-Twitter UK internet visits during March. Just 4.7% of Twitter's downstream traffic goes to Shopping & Classifieds websites, with even less to other 'transactional' industries, such as Business & Finance and Travel. (Hitwise UK Newsletter - April 2009, April 2009)
4 out of 10 online over-50s in the UK (4,700,000) belong to at least 1 social network, according to a study by InSites Consulting regarding awareness and use of social networks in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. Facebook is the most popular social network in this target group: 93% know it and 35% are a member. Social networks are mainly used for private purposes and less so for professional purposes. For the latter, Likedin is the most popular network (6%). Belgium and the Netherlands are trailing behind the UK as far as the awareness and membership of social networks is concerned amongst online over-50s.
The over-50s use social networks less than people under 50. 72% of the under-50s online population use these sites. For the over-50s, the figure is 1 in 4. (InSites Consulting, April 2009)
Microblogging and social networking tool Twitter has made a return to the UK mobile market, after signing a deal with Vodafone that will allow users to send "tweets" by SMS.
Twitter pulled the plug on part of its UK mobile service in the summer of 2008, citing the high prices charges by UK operators for SMS notifications. The SMS feature was available to users who wanted to receive update straight to their mobile devices, but Twitter's UK number was actually servicing all of Europe, leaving the firm with a hefty bill.
In March 2009, Twitter signed a deal with Vodafone allowing UK users to send updates to and receive SMS notifications from the messaging network. Vodafone is the only operator which allows SMS updates to and from Twitter in the UK.
But there's a catch, while the SMS updates posted on Twitter will be free of charge for the first few weeks from launch, they will eventually become part of customers' bundles. Regular charges will apply to customers without bundles but all text message updates sent from Twitter will remain free of charge.
When receiving a text message from Twitter with a URL, customers will be able to click on the link and access the publicised webpage directly from their handset.
The company has already achieved similar deals in Canada, India, and the United States. (Telecoms.com, March 2009)
Sites like Facebook and MySpace could be forced to log data on everyone their users make contact with on their sites, according to reports filed in the UK. The government is thinking of monitoring social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo as part of its anti-terrorism measures.
The moves follow controversial proposals, under European Union directives, to store information on phone calls made, emails sent and websites visited in Britain. The information could be added to a planned database to track terror plots.
The Home Office defended the proposals amid alarm from privacy and civil liberties groups, and stressed that the government was not seeking the power to examine the content of messages sent on the sites. (EyeForTravel, March 2009)
During the week ending February 7th 2009, Twitter.com became one of the 100 most visited websites in the UK for the first time, according to Hitwise. It ranked 91st within All Categories, placing above online heavyweights such as Expedia UK (96th), Gumtree (100th), easyJet (101st), Digital Spy (103rd) and MoneySupermarket (105th).
Twitter traffic has already more than trebled in 2009 and there was a noticeable increase in visits following the media attention generated by the likes of Stephen Fry (owner of the world's second favourite Twitter feed after Barack Obama) and Jonathan Ross.
Over the last 12 months traffic to Twitter.com has increased 27 fold. As Hitwise is only measuring traffic to the Twitter website, if people accessing their Twitter accounts via mobile phones and third party applications (such as Twitterrific, Twitterfeed and Tweetdeck) were included, the numbers may even be higher.
One of the reasons for Twitter's success is the 'eco-system' of sites and applications that it has created via its open API. One of the most notable is Twitpic, which essentially allows users to upload pictures to their Twitter profiles. The site ranked 7th in the Entertainment - Photography category for the week ending February 7th 2009, up from 26th a month ago. Twitpic is still small in comparison to Flickr and Photobucket, but is growing rapidly. UK Internet traffic to the site has increased more than 5 fold already this year. (Hitwise, February 2009)
VisitScotland are piloting TripAdvisor as a new feature on www.visitscotland.com. A cross-section of 500 accommodation businesses who provide allocation are being given the opportunity to allow independent reviews from visitors who have stayed with them. TripAdvisor is the world's largest online travel community with more than 6 million members worldwide.
Research shows that people are relying more on review sites and these are second only to photographs and videos in influencing travel-booking decisions. (VisitScotland eUpdate - February 2009, February 2009)
In mid-2008, eMarketer calculated that UK social network ad spending would reach £175 million ($322 million) in 2009. Changes in the market have led to revisions of the 2009 estimate downward by about 20%, although that would still be a healthy increase over the £115 million ($212 million) total estimated for 2008.
Some of this adjustment is due to the general economic climate. But it also reflects the fact that MySpace, the world's most popular social network among English speakers, has had difficulty gaining traction in the UK. Hitwise found that in its social networks category, the UK market share of MySpace had fallen by one-half in the year to June 2008, from over 29% to less than 15%.
The popularity of Bebo, with its younger audience profile, is falling too. Nielsen Online data from August 2008 showed Bebo ousted from second place in its UK social site rankings by Blogger. Bebo fell to fourth place, according to Nielsen, and achieved just 14.1% audience reach.
Facebook, by contrast, has done well in recent months. Its UK unique user base grew from 12.4 million in December 2007 to 18.4 million in September 2008, according to comScore World Metrix. Yet Facebook continues to struggle with ad sales in the UK, as in the US.
Such shifts in audience loyalty are bound to make some advertisers think twice before using social networks as central elements of their marketing strategies. Nonetheless, social network ads in the UK will represent about 4.4% of total online ad spending in 2009. That spending recognizes the growing % age of the online population that uses social networks. More than one-third of UK internet users ages 18 to 55 had visited such sites in the past month as of December 2008, according to TNS, and more than one-half of teens have a social networking profile. (eMarketer, January 2009)
UK internet traffic to micro-blogging service and social network Twitter has risen 10-fold over the last 12 months, new figures show. For the week ending January 17, www.twitter.com ranked as the 291st most visited website in the UK, up from a ranking of 2,953 in the equivalent week last year. UK internet traffic to the website has increased by 974% over this period, according to online competitive intelligence service Hitwise.
The most followed Twitter user is new US president Barack Obama (twitter.com/BarackObama), who has over 140,000 followers.
Twitter receives the largest amount of its traffic from the US, but its penetration is greater in the UK, Hitwise has calculated. In Britain Twitter is still most popular with younger users in urban areas, but its appeal is broadening as it grows. The fastest growing age group of users is 35-44 year olds, who now account for 17.3% of UK visitors to www.twitter.com.
The amount of traffic Twitter sends to other websites has increased 30-fold over the last 12 months. Almost 10% of Twitter's downstream traffic goes to news and media websites, and BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk) is currently the seventh most popular site visited after www.twitter.com. A further 17.6% of traffic goes to entertainment websites, while 14.6% goes to social networks, 6.6% to blogs and 4.5% to online retailers.
The most popular website visited after Twitter is Facebook. The UK's most popular social network continues to pick up users and is now the second most visited website in the UK after Google UK. (Travelmole, January 2009)
Last Updated on Monday, 21 June 2010 09:48
