BBC Online top of UK Websites

BBC Online has established a clear lead as the UK’s busiest Web destination, according to data released by ABC//electronic last Friday.

But a spokesman for BBC Online (www.bbc.co.uk) concedes that its total of 80 page impressions registered during March may well be leapfrogged by Yahoo.co.uk at the next official ABC//electronic audit.

BBC Online’s previous audit, covering October 1998, showed BBC Online generating 46.78 million page views. Yahoo.co.uk’s last official audit, covering December 1998, revealed it attracted 51.19 million page impressions and confirmed it as Britain’s busiest Website.

Yahoo.co.uk is expected to reclaim its title as the site, in common with other major sites, is thought to have received a major boost to traffic as a result of the recent introduction of free ISP services, which has expanded the number of UK Internet surfers and extended the amount of time they spend online.

According to a BBC Online spokesman: “It may well be that Yahoo.co.uk’s next audit will reconfirm its status as the UK’s number one Web destination. But Yahoo is not an original content provider, unlike BBC Online, and within this category there is no doubt that we are the UK’s leading Website.”

Analysis of BBC Online traffic shows it attracted 3 million users during March. BBC News Online (www.bbc.co.uk/news) registered 41 million page impressions during the month – a major boost to traffic on the news segment of the site. BBC Online director Nigel Chapman attributes the increase in part to the BBC’s online reporting on the Kosovo crisis.

BBC News Online has increased its audience by 40 per cent since the Kosovo conflict began on March 24, and is now generating nearly 11 million page impressions a week.