Microsoft Gains as Time on MySpace Plummets in September

Microsoft’s online properties captured nearly 15 percent of time spent online worldwide during September 2009, making it the most engaging global player, according to data from comScore. Time spent with the firm’s properties grew an impressive 43 percent year-over-year, as time spent on Yahoo, MySpace, and AOL fell. Microsoft’s instant messaging platform, Windows Live Messenger, accounted for the vast majority of time spent, however — 70 percent.

Google and Yahoo sites claimed second and third place in time spent, respectively, with Facebook following in fourth. The booming social network enjoyed massive year-on-year growth, up 193 percent from the previous year to reach a total of almost 1.4 billion hours in September 2009.

Microsoft and Google sites also experienced substantial gains in the amount of time users spend with their properties, growing 43 percent and 48 percent year-on-year respectively. Google’s YouTube accounted for nearly half of its overall 2.5 billion hours, racking up 1.2 billion hours over the course of the month.

By contrast, Yahoo experienced a 14 percent decline in engagement, and AOL a 12 percent drop. MySpace parent company, Fox Interactive Media (now News Corp. Digital Media), also experienced a large dip in usage, with users spending 44 percent less time with its sites in September 2009 than they did during the same four weeks the previous year.