Google Still Tops Online Video Stats

Online video viewing in September remained a horserace, with a pack of companies switching positions while all chased Google sites, led by YouTube, according to ComScore's latest data, released Wednesday.

Microsoft surged from the back of the pack to fourth place with 45.5 million unique viewers, as Yahoo sites moved into second place, ahead of Facebook. Google sites recorded 144.2 million unique viewers -- well ahead of Yahoo's 54.4 million viewers. Facebook had 52.2 million viewers.

Google also recorded the most minutes per viewer, at 260 minutes each. Hulu, in ninth place among total unique viewers, logged second place in viewer minutes, with 163 minutes each recorded by ComScore.

ComScore said, overall, 84% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video during the month.

"175 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in September for an average of 14.4 hours per viewer," reported ComScore. "The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in more than 5.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month."

In the online advertising category, Hulu's first-place 27.5 ads watched per viewer during the month bested Google, which averaged five ads viewed per user in the month. Microsoft's 8.7 ads-viewed-per-user rating earned it the second-place position.

The online market research firm said video ads were viewed by 45% of the total U.S. population an average of 32 times during September. Tremor Media Video Network, whose video ads were viewed by 26% of the U.S. population, led total U.S. population reach among advertisers.

Content videos were an average of 4.9 minutes long, while online video ads lasted an average of 0.4 minutes, said ComScore.

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