Digital media had another banner year in 2013, and some of this year’s trends may provide some clues as to what may lay ahead next year. As more Web users shift to mobile and tablet screens, Web activity using computer browsers declined slightly among the top 10 websites. Online video viewing, however, continued to grow, and YouTube remained the top source for streaming, as 128 million Americans viewed video content on the site each month.
Smartphone penetration grew from 56 percent at the start of 2013 to nearly two-thirds (65%) of U.S. mobile subscribers by October 2013, and a majority of subscribers used Android (52%) or iOS (41%) smartphones. Along with growing ownership came increased activity using smartphone apps: Facebook remained the most-used smartphone app across Android and iOS handsets, with more than 103 million unique users each month. Among the top 10 apps, Instagram was up 66 percent in terms of unique users, making it the fastest growing app over the past year.
Top 10 U.S. Web Brands for 2013
| Rank | Web Brand | Avg Unique Audience | YoY % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 164,805,000 | -6% | |
| 2 | 134,943,000 | -16% | |
| 3 | Yahoo | 129,801,000 | -9% |
| 4 | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 121,031,000 | -2% |
| 5 | YouTube | 119,242,000 | -14% |
| 6 | Microsoft | 83,039,000 | -6% |
| 7 | AOL Media Network | 81,037,000 | -7% |
| 8 | Amazon | 79,673,000 | -1% |
| 9 | Wikipedia | 72,591,000 | -6% |
| 10 | Ask Search Network | 64,249,000 | -18% |
| Data from January 2013 – October 2013 (Total). Ranked on average monthly unique audience. Read as: During 2013, 164.8 million unique U.S. people, on average, visited Google each month. Source: Nielsen. |
Top 10 U.S. Online Video Brands of 2013
| Rank | Site | Avg Unique Viewers | YoY % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | YouTube | 128,436,000 | -6% |
| 2 | VEVO | 37,209,000 | -9% |
| 3 | Yahoo | 35,412,000 | -8% |
| 4 | AOL Media Network | 26,448,000 | 5% |
| 5 | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 19,784,000 | 6% |
| 6 | The CollegeHumor Network | 18,351,000 | -6% |
| 7 | Perform Group | 15,978,000 | 58% |
| 8 | Hulu | 13,117,000 | -2% |
| 9 | ESPN Digital Network | 12,644,000 | 4% |
| 10 | Netflix | 11,946,000 | 1% |
| Data from January – October 2013 (Total). Ranked on average monthly unique viewers. Read as: During 2013, 128 million unique U.S. people, on average, streamed video from YouTube each month. Source: Nielsen. |
Top Smartphone Apps of 2013
| Rank | App | Avg Unique Users | YoY % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 103,420,000 | 27% | |
| 2 | Google Search | 75,984,000 | 37% |
| 3 | Google Play | 73,667,000 | 28% |
| 4 | YouTube | 71,962,000 | 27% |
| 5 | Google Maps | 68,580,000 | 14% |
| 6 | Gmail | 64,408,000 | 29% |
| 7 | 31,992,000 | 66% | |
| 8 | Maps(Apple) | 31,891,000 | 64% |
| 9 | Stocks | 30,781,000 | 32% |
| 10 | 30,760,000 | 36% | |
| Data from January – October 2013, among smartphone owners 18+ (iOS and Android only). Ranked by average monthly unique users. Read as: During 2013 103 million smartphone owners used the Google Search app on average each month. Source: Nielsen. |
