Twitter Traffic

Who's to believe when people report on traffic to Twitter? Compete.com says it's 21.2M unique visitors; comScore says it's 22.3M; Twitter says it's 180M. Given, Twitter does have access to the most accurate data, and they're counting the millions of people who use Twitter by other means (mobile, TweetDeck, off-Twitter Web sites, etc.), but that's a huge spread.

Twitter recently stated that 75% of its traffic comes from third-party apps like Tweetie, which, incidentally, Twitter just bought. While I'm not sure if that 75% includes traffic from sources like other Web sites -- let's assume that it does -- that should mean that 25% (or 45M visitors) of its traffic comes from Twitter.com. So still, there's a wide spread -- more than double -- between what Twitter says their traffic is and what folks like comScore and Compete.com say their traffic is.

Are these Web site traffic reporting services that inaccurate? Is Twitter reporting visits and not unique visitors? If so, that's called fudging the numbers. Consider, Social Media Graphics recently reported that 79% of Twitter accounts they analyzed are not true Twitter users, as they define it.

Online Video Viewership

According to a recent comScore finding, the average U.S. online video viewer watched more than 5 hours of video online in February 2009. Of note is the jump in ranking of Hulu as a destination for online video consumption -- and more importantly -- premium content.

In February, Hulu jumped up to the #4 spot among the top online video properties. Google continued to hold the #1 spot with nearly 41% of the share of videos viewed with YouTube accounting for more than 99% of that (no surprise there). In a distant second and third, respectively, are Fox Interactive Media and Yahoo. I found it interesting that apparently so many people still watch videos on MySpace (a Fox Interactive Media property) that it keeps Fox ahead of Hulu (a joint venture between Fox and NBC/U).

Expect to see Hulu continue to rise in the rankings now that Disney is in talks with Hulu to air its content. Disney seems to be taking the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach with this. This means that Hulu will prospectively have 9 of the top 20 rated shows (w/o Mar 22), which is quite a feat, considering CBS alone holds the other 11 shows in that list. In one online destination (with a great user experience, by the way), you'll be able to watch such powerhouses as The Office, 30 Rock, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, House, 24, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and the list goes on. Who needs a DVR?

CBS Interactive seems to be struggling with their online video property, TV.com. They currently have 0.9% of the viewing audience. I'm not a fan of the TV.com user experience, which is why I credit Hulu with its success. Long term, I expect CBS to bite the bullet and offer their content on Hulu. Let's wait and see.