Facebook Surpasses Google in US Popularity

Facebook has become the most visited website in the United States as millions of people turn to the social networking site to play online games, reports Times Online.

Although this is not the first time the social networking site has been the most visited site in the US, this is the first time the site has sustained such a lead over Google, according to web analytics firm Hitwise.

Facebook has more than 400 million regular users worldwide, about half of whom visit the site every day to check their updates, post photos and, increasingly, play online social games.

The growing popularity of simple games such as FarmVille, which has more than 83 million players worldwide, has breathed added life into social networks and hold out the prospect of huge profits for Facebook and companies such as Zynga and Playfish as gamers use real money to buy virtual goods inside the games.

Google reacted to the threat of Facebook by launching its own social network within its Gmail service last month. But Google Buzz has got to a rocky start as users complained about privacy concerns.

The Hitwise figures do not include searches carried out in a box in a browser toolbar and do not cover visits to other Google websites for services such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps.