Posted on Tue, Dec. 26, 2006
	Google is second-most popular Web site in world Search engine bumps Sunnyvale-based Yahoo to third, with Microsoft still holding the top spot, according to researcher By Jonathan Thaw BLOOMBERG NEWS Google Inc. displaced Yahoo Inc. as the world's second-most visited Web site in November and closed in on leader Microsoft Corp., a market researcher said today. Visitors to Google's sites rose 9.1 percent to 475.7 million in November from a year earlier, while those to Yahoo sites rose 5.2 percent to 475.3 million, ComScore Networks Inc. said today. Both sites trail Microsoft, which had 501.7 million visitors, ComScore said. It is the first time that Mountain View-based Google attracted more visitors than Yahoo, reflecting Google's growing popularity outside the United States. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo is still the most-visited site within the United States, Reston, Va.-based ComScore said. Microsoft's visitors increased 3.3 percent from a year earlier. Shares of Yahoo rose 7 cents to $25.55 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They have fallen 35 percent this year. Google fell 62 cents to $455.58 and have gained 9.8 percent this year. Yahoo's outside public relations agency didn't immediately have a comment. Visitors to News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media sites rose almost fivefold to 130.4 million in November from a year ago, reflecting a surge in users from the purchase of MySpace.com. Visitors at YouTube, bought by Google for $1.65 billion in November, rose more than 24-fold to 107.9 million, ComScore said.