Internet users, especially teenagers, are a fleeting lot, flocking and able to make a brand so popular on the one hand, only to leave it in a whimper on another.

One such object of popularity is the MySpace phenomenon, which in a year's time went from zero to the most popular social networking site in the planet by sheer numbers, and daily registrations that beat some of the most popular web destinations, and with pageviews that make marketers weep.

Just when you think there's nowhere else to go for the erstwhile uber teen destination, an independent claim shows that MySpace has gone even higher: it is now so popular that its numbers fly well beyond that of Yahoo, MSN and Google itself:

"There are few who doubt the massive popularity of social networking website Myspace.com, but a new web traffic study released by a web analytics firm may surprise some: According to Hitwise, Myspace.com attracts more visitors than any other US website - and that would include calibers such as Yahoo, Google and MSN.

"According to the Hitwise report, MySpace accounted for 4.46% of all Internet visits in the US for the week ending 8 July. MySpace is leading the pack for the first time and was able to surpass long-time leader Yahoo Mail, which Hitwise ranks second with a share of 4.42%. The Yahoo main site is third with a share of 4.25%, followed by Google with 3.89%, MySpace Mail with 2.85%, MSN Hotmail with 2.39% and MSN with 1.92%."


TGDaily | Yahoo News | Reuters