Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, recently tracked the time Britons spend online and the sites that account for the highest share in the online market. The results were as interesting and varied as the medium itself, as 10 brands accounted for 45% of total UK Internet time.

Communication and Entertainment are Central Themes Amongst Most Heavily Used Web Brands. Facebook (13%) is the most heavily used brand followed by MSN / Live Windows.

In April 2009, the average Briton spent 22 hours 20 minutes online or using Internet-related applications. This represents a 34 percent increase on a year ago when the figure was 16 hours 36 minutes. Facebook is one of the major factors in the increasing time people are spending online – the site recording 3.8 billion more minutes in April 2009 than April 2008.

Rank Brand % Share
1. Facebook 12.7%
2. MSN/ Windows Live 9.2%
3. Google 5.3%
4. EBay 4.1%
5. Yahoo! 3.5%
6. AOL Media Network 3.0%
7. BBC 2.3%
8. You Tube 1.9%
9. Microsoft 1.5%
10. Apple 1.5%

Consequently, the Other 7,625 Brands Currently Tracked by Nielsen Online are Fighting for the Remaining 55 Percent of Time Britons Spend Online.

Alex Burmaster, Communications Director, EMEA, Nielsen Online concluded that the major players have had a pretty good year which will further attract advertisers as the medium has already engaged users through the vehicles of entertainment and communication.