Web King: MySpace Takes Throne From Yahoo

Dec. 14, 2006 — -- An interesting online milestone occurred in November: MySpace overtook Yahoo as the No. 1 most-viewed site on the Internet, according to comScore Media Metrix.

The numbers are staggering: There were 38.7 billion -- yes, billion -- page views for MySpace versus 38.1 billion for Yahoo, and again, that was just for November.

It's fascinating to see how the Internet has evolved. Who knew that simply socializing online could change the Internet?

"This is not your daddy's Internet," said Don Tapscott, founder and CEO of business think tank New Paradigm. Of course given how long the Internet has been around this would mean "your daddy" is about 15 years old.

Tapscott wrote the book, literally, on "Growing Up Digital" and has a new book soon to be released called "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything."

As he wound through traffic in Vancouver, he discussed the evolution of the Internet.

"This is Internet 2.0," Tapscott said. The Internet, he said, is evolving from a "presentation platform" to "a community platform model."

What used to be a place where you went to find a telephone number, look up an obscure fact, or access a library is quickly becoming a much different beast.

It's a place where people now log in to virtual clubs, and keep up with friends, their favorite bands, TV shows, and maybe even discover something totally new, unexpected and hilariously funny.

MySpace being the most-viewed site cements the idea that the Internet is rapidly evolving from where it started.

Yahoo was one of the first big names online.

"It was an important Web site in the mid-'90s," said Harry McCracken, vice president and editor in chief of PC Online World. The MySpace numbers, McCracken said, "represents a sea change" in new technology.

That sea change is not lost on Yahoo.

Reema Bahnasy, who handles public relations for Yahoo, stressed that the company was evolving in ways that made it look much different today than in it did in those old days of the mid-'90s.