What are the most visited websites in the world?
Viral websites get a lot of traffic. Niche websites generate solid cash flow. Wildly popular websites that offer value for their consumers build empires and generate considerable shareholder value.
Given that websites generally scale easily (you generally don’t need to build a factory or invest a lot in capex to add functionality or create a page) and the additional marginal cost of hosting a visitor is minimal, it’s no surprise that many of the world’s most popular websites have also been great investments. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of the search engine Google, for instance, has rallied more than 15x since its IPO in 2004.
Some websites, such as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), are highly addictive. There is an inherent need for people to see how their friends and family are doing. With its 1.8 billion active monthly users and all its pictures and updates, Facebook arguably satisfies that need. Other websites, such as Google and Wikipedia, are essential internet utilities. Google answers questions and points users to relevant links with uncannily accuracy. Given more than 1.4 billion people live in China and another 1.2 billion live in India, some of the most visited websites, such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)‘s Tmall and Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)‘s main search portal, are also international. Almost all of the world’s most visited websites occupy a niche and serve a particular purpose that keeps people coming back and back every day. In this article, we take a look at 20 Most Visited Websites In The World according to the internet traffic company Alexa. Some of these popular websites are also owned by major public companies such as Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
For those of you interested, also check out the 5 most visited websites in the world for 2015.
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#20 Yahoo.co.jp
Yahoo.co.jp is basically the Japanese version of Yahoo.com. Given Japan’s large internet population, Yahoo.co.jp ranks 20th in terms of popularity in the world.
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#19 360.cn
360.cn operates in China’s information security field. Although the website is not particularly popular, the companies’ services are, and Alexa records that, making the website the 19th most popular website in the world.
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#18 LinkedIn.com
Number one professional social network/jobs-site LinkedIn.com is the 18th most visited website in the world. It was bought by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in a deal that closed last year.
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#17 Instagram.com
In what might be the best tech acquisition ever, Facebook bought photo sharing app Instagram for around $1 billion in 2012 when the service was just a small outfit with a lot of growth. Several years later, Instagram is regularly used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide and its website, Instagram.com, is the 17th most popular website in the world.
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#16 Twitter.com
Social media network Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is regularly used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The most famous user, @realDonaldTrump, is the most powerful person in the world and the 45th President of the United States of America. Trump regularly uses Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) to take his message directly to the American people.
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#15 Vk.com
Vk.com is Russia’s largest social networking site. In many ways, its design and functionality mirrors that of the West’s dominant social networking site, Facebook.com.
#14 Live.com
Live.com is part of Microsoft’s empire and the 14th most visited site according to Alexa.
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#13 Taobao.com
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)‘s Taobao is basically China’s Amazon/Ebay. Given the massive size of the Chinese e-commerce market, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is one of the world’s most valuable companies by market capitalization as well.
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#12 Sohu.com Inc (NASDAQ:SOHU)
Sohu.com Inc (NASDAQ:SOHU) is a major Chinese internet portal/search engine. The company also offers on-line multiplayer gaming services as well.
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#11 Google.co.jp
We are continuing our list of most visited websites in the world with the Google.co.jp that is the Japanese Google. Given the importance of search, it’s an essential site for tens of millions of Japanese people every day.
#10 Qq.com
Qq.com is a Chinese social media website owned by Tencent, China’s largest social media company. It’s a website where Chinese citizens chat, share photos, etc.
#9 Tmall.com
Tmall.com is another of Alibaba’s properties. As opposed to Taobao.com, which is more consumer to consumer, Tmall.com is business to consumer. Major brands, many of them Western companies, use the website as a platform to sell to the vast Chinese market.
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#8 Amazon.com
Nect in line on our list of most visited websites in the world we have the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), America’s most popular e-commerce website. With hundreds of millions of users, many investors expect Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to give Wal-Mart a run for its money in terms of revenue and profits in the future.
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#7 Google.com.in
Google.com.in is Alphabet’s Google site for India. Given that India has over a billion citizens and that Alphabet dominates search in the country, it’s not surprising that Google.com.in is the 7th most popular website in the world.
#6 Wikipedia.org
Although it isn’t exactly accurate at all times, Wikipedia.org, one of the most visited websites in the world, is perhaps the most useful and widely translated up-to-date encyclopedia in the world. As a bonus, it doesn’t cost anything to use and is ad-free too.
#5 Yahoo.com
Although Facebook and Google were founded a long time after Yahoo.com and the two have eclipsed the website in terms of users and market cap, Yahoo.com is still the 5th most visited website in the world. Although Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) originally agreed to sell Yahoo.com to Verizon, the deal hasn’t closed yet due to previous years’ hacks. At the moment, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) still owns the media portal.
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#4 Baidu.com
Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) is China’s equivalent of Google. It’s the go to search engine for hundreds of millions of Chinese every day. Given the size of China’s economy, Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) stock has grown sharply since its IPO in 2005.
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#3 Facebook.com
The third place on our list of most visited websites in the world goes to the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) that is the third most visited website according to Alexa. According to the social network’s recent quarterly report, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has over 1.8 billion monthly users. Facebook stock has also been one of the best performing major company stocks since its IPO.
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#2 YouTube.com
In perhaps one of the best acquisitions in tech ever, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) bought YouTube.com for just $1.65 billion in 2006. That turned out to be a great deal as YouTube is now the second most widely visited website in the world.
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#1 Google.com
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s Google.com is the world’s number one search engine. Given that it also offers a great email service and has a clean interface, it’s not surprising that the website is Alexa’s most widely visited website in the world. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock has rallied 3.4% year-to-date so far.
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In conclusion, many of the 20 Most Visited Websites In The World satisfy an essential need which keep bringing people back. Whether that is answering questions, checking up on what friends are doing, facilitating on-line purchases, or looking up definitions, many of the 20 most visited websites make life easier for the world’s internet population.
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