According to Internet traffic analyzer WebSideStory,
nearly half of all traffic generated from search engines to Web sites can be traced to Yahoo!.
WebSideStory’s data source, StatMarket,
found that Yahoo! generates more than twice as many referrals to Web sites as its closest competitor, Excite. StatMarket real-time data is based on more than
20 million unique visitors
a day to more than 50,000 Web sites using the HitBOX Tracker.
As of March 30, Yahoo! was responsible for 45.92% of all referrals to Web
sites, while Excite accounted for 21.68%. The top ten
referring search engines are:
- Yahoo — 45.92%
- Excite — 21.68%
- Alta Vista — 9.70%
- Infoseek — 5.32%
- Web Crawler — 3.35%
- HotBot — 3.42%
- Snap — 3.09%
- MSN — 2.32%
- Lycos — 1.83%
- GoTo — 1.69%
The San Diego, Calif.-based company claims it
represents the largest sampling of Internet users to provide user trends. StatMarket is updated daily, offering user trends and statistics derived from incorporating data from independent Web sites that belong to its HitBOX.com community, where users engage its HitBOX Tracker traffic analyzer tool.
Statmarket gathers raw data gleaned from actual visitors, rather than
information manually reported by individuals in a sample group in order to provide facts rather estimates, according to the company.
“StatMarket and the HitBOX Tracker provide data that anyone who is serious
about promoting a Web site should know,” said Blaise Barrelet, president
and CEO of WebSideStory. “Knowing which search engines are sending the most
traffic is key to properly promoting a Web site.”
