Today, comScore released its report on the top Internet properties and the top gaining properties in the U.K. for August, based on data collected through the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.

Google was the most visited property in August, with 28.3 million unique visitors age 15 or older, reaching 89 percent of the total U.K. Internet audience. It was followed by Microsoft Sites, which attracted 26.8 million unique visitors, an 83 percent reach.

Yahoo! grew by 1.3 percent in August to challenge eBay for its position as the third most visited property from within the U.K. eBay attracted an audience of 21.6 million unique visitors, compared to Yahoo! with 21.0 million. Meanwhile, online shopping site, Amazon, proved to be the fastest growing of the Top 10 U.K. properties, increasing total traffic by 6.3 percent to attract 13.3 million unique visitors – a reach of 42 percent.

Top 10 U.K. Online Properties Ranked by U.K. Unique Visitors August 2007 vs. July 2007 Total U.K., Age 15+ – Home and Work Locations* Source: comScore World Metrix
Property	Total Unique Visitors (000)			% Reach
	July 2007	Aug 2007	% Change
Total U.K. Internet Audience	31,791	31,918	0%	100.0%
Google Sites	28,151	28,345	0.7%	88.8%
Microsoft Sites	26,947	26,759	-0.7%	83.8%
eBay	22,079	21,559	-2.4%	67.5%
Yahoo! Sites	20,760	21,039	1.3%	65.9%
BBC Sites	18,921	18,578	-1.8%	58.2%
Ask Network	14,598	14,815	1.5%	46.4%
Time Warner Network	14,934	14,322	-4.1%	44.9%
Amazon Sites	12,472	13,261	6.3%	41.5%
Fox Interactive Media	13,215	13,032	-1.4%	40.8%
Wikipedia Sites	11,699	11,534	-1.4%	36.1%

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Facebook.com was the fastest growing property in the U.K. The social networking site grew 18.3 percent in August to reach just under 9 million unique visitors. The site has experienced a dramatic 2,167 percent growth within the U.K. since September 2006, when it made the decision to open up registration to the general public, a change from the previous policy requiring a valid email address from a university or a selected group of secondary schools and businesses. During the same period, traffic to the site has increased strongly across Europe, where it has grown by 2,446 percent to reach 13.2 million unique visitors.

British Sky Broadcasting experienced a 10 percent growth in traffic, reaching 7.4 million unique visitors. This increase was sparked by interest in skysports.com, thanks to the onset of the new football season. Premiumtv.co.uk, also benefited from the start of the football season. The company, which manages the digital rights of football in the U.K. and produces multi-platform club specific content, enjoyed a 17.1 percent growth to reach 3.1 million unique visitors.

Elsewhere, price comparison sites also enjoyed heavy traffic. Shopping comparison site Shopzilla.com grew by 10.2 percent to 3.4 million unique visitors, whilst travel price comparison specialist, Priceline.com, increased 8.6 percent to 3.1 million.

Top 10 U.K. Gaining Properties Ranked by U.K. Unique Visitors August 2007 vs. July 2007 Total U.K., Age 15+ – Home and Work Locations* Source: comScore World Metrix
Property	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	July 2007	Aug 2007	% change
Total U.K. Internet Audience	31,791	31,918	0.4%
Facebook.com	7,604	8,996	18.3%
Premiumtv.co.uk	2,632	3,081	17.1%
Disney Online	3,190	3,713	16.4%
WordPress	2,716	3,030	11.6%
News International	5,806	6,405	10.3%
Shopzilla.com Sites	3,096	3,412	10.2%
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)	6,725	7,396	10.0%
Priceline.com Incorporated	2,842	3,086	8.6%
Nationallottery.co.uk	3,727	4,038	8.3%
The Carphone Warehouse Group	3,370	3,606	7.0%

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.