Video sharing site YouTube has retained pole position in the US online video market, according to new research.Figures released by comScore indicate that the site had a 28 per cent market share in September and saw almost two in five internet users view its content over the month.
In total, more than nine billion videos were watched online during the period, with Google sites seeing 2.6 billion videos viewed, 2.5 billion of which were accessed on YouTube.
Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in October 2006, although the site continues to operate independently.
Meanwhile, Fox Interactive Media was ranked second, with 387 billion of its videos watched, and Yahoo! sites came third, with 381 million videos viewed, a 4.1 per cent share of total video viewings.
Other internet properties ranking in the top ten were the Time Warner network - which experienced a market share of 2.2 per cent and was placed in fifth position - and Microsoft sites, which came in sixth place with a share of 2.1 per cent.
The research also found that nearly 75 per cent of US internet users watched videos online - including progressive downloads and streaming video - with an average of three hours watched per person over the month.
Additionally, it was discovered that the average online video duration was 2.7 minutes, while viewers tended to watch slightly more than two videos per day.
