Skip to content

Top Websites in Ireland – January 2010

2010 February 15
tags: ,
by Barry

Google had updated their data on Irish web traffic for January 2010, and just like the information collected for December 2009 – I’ve exported as much as possible for sharing.

top irish websites jan 20101 520x353 Top Websites in Ireland January 2010

Top Irish Websites

(View all websites)

While I’ve said before that this does not fully conclude what websites actual traffic is, it does offer an indication and when comparing with Dec 2009 will show changes.

For example, Facebook.com is still the highest visited website with identical numbers to December, apart from page views which has now grown from 1.4B to 1.9B – has facebook become more sticky? the rise of younger members with their love of Farmville type applications would be a good indicator of this happening.

I’ve been asked a few times on what exactly is useful about the data extracted from Google, personally I’ve been using it as part of competitor analysis, selecting all websites in the industry I work in as a basis of understanding our place in the market. As a web only business – this is extremely important. I don’t reply solely on Google, but combine a number of sources and assumptions to deliver a more robust evaluation.

Has anyone discovered something or found a use for the Google traffic stats?

from → Ad Planner, Web Analytics, Websites

  • http://www.blackdog.ie/ paul savage

    Thanks for pointing this out Barry, just had a quick look at the stats, and one of the surprises for me were met.ie , I didn't think the traffic was so high.

    It's also interesting to compare 3 players in a market, like vodafone / 02 & meteor. Or the reach of news papers on line, IrishTimes / Irish Independent & The Guardian.

    One that also surprised me was the gambling websites, paddypower.com & partypoker, I never new there was a separation.

    All the best,
    Paul

  • http://kevindowling.ie/ Kevin

    Interesting because the boards.ie folks claimed their ABC poll as confirming that they're bigger then RTE.ie, and the biggest “entertainment” site in Ireland. This clearly shows otherwise!

  • http://twitter.com/BarryHand Barry Hand

    Boards.ie is a strange one, because their individual record shows shared data from Google Analytics at 830k(from Ireland) & 1.9m(worldwide) https://www.google.com/adplanner/#siteSearch?id…

    I'd tend to believe that as it's using the shared data from their GA account, and it ties in with the ABC data.

  • http://twitter.com/BarryHand Barry Hand

    Hi Paul, I think the interesting part for me is the trend over more than a few months – which is the main reason why I've started taking all data for each month. Unfortunately Google don't allow a proper historical view (like 3/6/12 month view).

    Mainly because this is not what the tool is intended for, Don't get too caught up on the numbers, more so the percentage change.

  • aidenobyrne

    It really does depend upon the metrics to determine accurate U.U.'s and market reach. These figures are radically different then what's been recorded by premium sites in the market. On a practical level looking at where something moved from and to is only relevant if the start point is accurate. These are NOT.

  • barryhand

    Hi Aiden, I've posted in Dec how Google collects this data which is right across their product suite and is more comprehensive than other paid services like Comscore etc.

    I've been checking the numbers for over 12 months, and while the numbers may not match my site actuals – they have been consistent in terms of growth % – Have you found this also?

  • AOByrne

    Hi Barry, I don't have a lot of faith in any Google metrics (nor do I in any of the reporting systems!). Nevertheless discussion on this topic can be skewed either way to upsell one's agenda. I hope that new IAB metric system will address all of these issues.

  • http://twitter.com/BarryHand Barry Hand

    Right now, Google hold the most comprehensive data on Irish web usage, having no faith in any Google metric (which spans there vast collection of applications) would be writing off a massive chunk of information, which for Ireland is not available elsewhere.

    I'm not sure what methodology IAB will use, will they have access to Network data? or will it be user centric?

  • AOByrne

    I'm unsure but the industry needs an independent validation metric and Fast. Good luck in all your various discussion threads!

  • mccvince

    Hi Barry,

    Great info! Thanks!

    Our website (http://www.reachout.com with actual URL is http://ie.reachout.com as it is global site which is geo targetted) isn't on the list. We launched in November last year. Would there be a reason why it wouldn't appear?

    All the best,
    Vince

  • http://twitter.com/barryhand Barry Hand

    Hi Vince, the simple answer is that no subdomains were included.

  • mccvince

    Thanks Barry. Keep up the good work!

  • Stephen Dwyer

    Any news on a 2011 list?