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Brits Look at Google and Facebook Every 210 Seconds, Says Survey (theregister.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the user-behavior dept.

Ad companies Facebook and Google slurp one in every three and a half minutes that Britons spend online, according to a survey. From a report: This, says audience metrics company Verto Analytics, accounts for 17 per cent of British adults' time online, the equivalent of 42.7 million days a month across Google, YouTube and Gmail. Similarly, Facebook-owned sites, including the ad-driven data-mining website itself, Instagram and WhatsApp, account for 11 per cent of time online, or a relatively paltry 28.4 million days. "Google and Facebook's share of internet time and ad revenue is staggering considering the hundreds of thousands of websites that exist," said Hannu Verkasalo, CEO of Verto Analytics, in a canned statement. The Verto survey also found that of the top 10 websites used in the UK, the sole British one was the BBC. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, "Oath" (the new name for the merged Yahoo-AOL beastie), eBay and Twitter were the others, along with Activision Blizzard.

26 comments

  1. Google I get by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    I am curious myself but FaceBook? It only has stuff I don't want nor need to know, for example the guy who had the locker beside mine 20 years ago got a new car.

    1. Re:Google I get by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      They needed an other source to make their data look interesting and add an additional buzzword for the search optimization.
      Google and Gmail makes sense, as there is a lot of serious needs for this. I am getting for Facebook, I expect much of that is for facebook messenger.
      Because IRC, AOLIM, are out of date. Because... Reasons?

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Google I get by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It only has stuff I don't want nor need to know

      Well, maybe they also looked at what other people who aren't you did.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. What the fuck? by Known+Nutter · · Score: 1

    What the fuck does this even mean?

    Ad companies Facebook and Google slurp one in every three and a half minutes that Britons spend online, according to a survey.

    Derp. Makes no sense out of context.

    --
    Beware of the Leopard.
    1. Re:What the fuck? by ITRambo · · Score: 1

      The headline is clickbait. It is misleading, as many people stay logged into Facebook while doing other things.

    2. Re:What the fuck? by DogDude · · Score: 1

      The ad companies know when you're active or not. The mouse moves or your finger moves. Really simple.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    3. Re:What the fuck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this even possible? Browsers and HTML standards are fucking broken beyond repair.

  3. So by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We spend so much time on echo chamber Google and the scammer that sold our personal data to everyone and their dog.
    Brilliant!

  4. full of nonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because Facebook et al give away their stats to analytic companies all the time!, you can download them at https://logs.facebook.com/down...

    except they don't, so where did he get them ? he didn't, neither does anyone else know except the relevant companies and what they choose to give away in PR, the rest is speculation on that, stats industry is full of wind.

    1. Re:full of nonsense by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      From what I read in "Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley" by Antonio Garcia Martinez, Facebook takes its own data and combines it with third-party data to create profiles on every user, whether logged in or anonymous. A researcher could get their own source of data and then cross-reference it with third-party data to figure out something similar.

  5. Rainy Days by sqorbit · · Score: 2

    I read somewhere that 106.5 days of the year London has rain. That means that approximately 29% of the year Brits in London are staring at rain. This adds two useless and pointless facts about Brits on slashdot today.

    --
    Sent from my TARDIS
    1. Re:Rainy Days by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Note to self: Verto Analytics are idiots, don't trust their analytics.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Rainy Days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It rains approximately 6% of the time in London.

      (Hint: on those 106 days, it doesn't actually rain from midnight to midnight.)

  6. BS Stats by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Yeah I have a google tab open. Am I looking at it? No.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
    1. Re:BS Stats by DogDude · · Score: 1

      The ad companies know when you're active or not. The mouse moves or your finger moves. Really simple.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    2. Re:BS Stats by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Yeah and they report something else. They have been padding stats since forever.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
  7. They look at FB and G in disgust by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Just because they look at it, doesn't mean they like it.

    Might even look at it in horror, or amazement that this dreck exists.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  8. Facebook? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    I thought the Brits had their own social networks - FriendFace and Jitter?

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the Brits had their own social networks - FriendFace and Jitter?

      AcquaintanceBook and Drizzle are more popular.

  9. Medical Problems? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    Gee.. Their necks must be awfully stiff at the end of the day. Looking down all the time.

    1. Re:Medical Problems? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Gee.. Their necks must be awfully stiff at the end of the day. Looking down all the time.

      That's why there is free health-care to take care of all the bad necks.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Medical Problems? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Yea, lucky them!!

  10. Pfft, that's nothing! by ToTheStars · · Score: 1

    I look at Slashdot at least once every twenty seconds!

    1. Re:Pfft, that's nothing! by avandesande · · Score: 1

      websites have been lying and counting auto reload stats as impressions since the 90s

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
  11. Re:What the ? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

    But how often do Google and Facebook look at the Brits?

  12. Copenhagen interpretation by Idisagree · · Score: 1

    Perhaps everyone is an unwilling participant in a great Schrödinger experiment...

    This means we must be compelled to check every 210 seconds to see if Facebook is either dead or alive.

    So far its been 426,470,400 seconds and (based on the survey stats) we've checked it over 2 million times but the damn thing wont die yet!!!

    The experiment continues in 210 seconds, perhaps this time we will be lucky? ..