Report: Facebook top for branded searches

Facebook was the most popular branded search query in the UK during 2008, according to new figures from Hitwise.

The social networking website was followed by brands such as Bebo, YouTube, eBay and Argos in the rankings, Hitwise said as it announced its UK Online Performance Awards.

Other brands in the top ten were found to include MySpace, Amazon, the BBC, Yahoo! and Autotrader.

Looking at particular website categories, the Met Office came out on top in the central government category in terms of website traffic.

Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise, remarked: "Internet traffic to government websites increased by 13.3 per cent between February 2008 and February 2009. I would expect this trend to continue during 2009."

The BBC topped the food and beverage - lifestyle and reference category, while Next was found to be the most popular shopping site in the UK.

About 90 per cent of all UK web searches are associated with brands, according to Hitwise.