Yahoo beats Google to top list of most-visited desktop websites in the US: comScore

It might have fallen from the grace of the gods as far as earnings are concerned, but Yahoo can still pack a wallop as far as generating the highest US-based traffic on its website is concerned. Having been on the top since July last year, Yahoo has once again beaten rivals in December, according to the comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 US Desktop Web Properties report released on Monday.

According to comScore, Yahoo had more than 195 million unique visitors in the US from desktop computers in the month of December. This was ahead of Google with 192 million users and Microsoft with 175 million users. The three firms however have been shifting and trading places since the last few years.

In addition, comScore also mentions, that holiday e-commerce was the primary driver of growth in the 'Shipping' and 'Retail' subcategories, while Christmas and New Year's also spurred a surge in e-card website traffic. The report also cited preparations for the upcoming 2014 tax season, a near record-breaking Mega Millions lottery jackpot and some exceptionally cold December weather propelled an influx of online visitors to the 'Business/Finance - Taxes' and 'News/Information - Weather' subcategories.

The total desktop Internet audience was in excess of 224 million unique users. The base was just for home, work and university locations. Mobile traffic has not been included by comScore.

In the social media sites Facebook came in fourth with more than 140 million unique visitors. Twitter came in at 24th, with just over 39 million users. Amazon did the best of the e-commerce portals, with a sixth place overall, and more than 116 million desktop users.