Google and Fox gaining fastest in Internet audience race

According to figures released recently by ComScore, audience growth at Google Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG) and Fox Interactive (which includes MySpace) was well ahead of other major web properties.

Overall Internet unique visitors grew 2% in September 2006 compared to the same month a year earlier hitting 173.4 million in the US.

The Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) sites were still the largest property, but that may not last much longer. Yahoo! sites grew 5% to 129.7 million unique users. Right behind was the Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) network of sites which includes AOL. TWX sites grew just 1% to 120.3 million. In third place was the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) network, which includes MSN. They were up 4% over last September to 119.4 million.

Google has impressive growth of 23% year-over-year to 107.4 million. It will pick up over 20 million new unique visitors with YouTube. EBay was next, but well behind Google, with 79 million unique visitors, up 13%.

Fox/MySpace grew by far the most of any of the other major network properties, rising 342%, with MySpace as the primary engine, to 70.9 million unique users.

If the current trend continues, Google may be in first place within a few months. Fox could quite easily top the 100 million unique visitor threshold. And, Microsoft and Time Warner will battle for third place.

It is a case where the traffic race may go to the swiftest.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.