Microsoft claimed the No. 1 spot among at-home Internet users in August for the first time since March, according to a Jupiter Media Metrix multi-country report.
Nearly 55 percent of Microsoft's total unique visitors, or the number of different individuals that access the site or services counted only once, come from the US, signalling that the software giant taps a higher percentage of its traffic from online audiences abroad relative to other leading brands.
The report, which looks at Internet use in seven countries, also found that the Web was accessed from home more frequently per user in Japan than in any other country measured, according to the report, which included Japan in the world rankings for the first time in this report.
Japan represents 12 percent of the total online population among all countries in Media Metrix' August 2000 at-home multi-country report, the second largest Internet-using market after the US.
At-home Internet users in Japan went online an average of 13.9 days in the month of August, the most of any country, and outpaced the multi-country average of 12.1 days overall.
The report also found that Internet users in the United States spent the most time online in August, with an average of 15 hours, outpacing the multi-country average of 12.2 hours per month at home.
The United States had 56.2 percent of Media Metrix' multi-country audience with 76.1 million unique visitors while Japan had the second largest share at 12 percent with 16.3 million visitors.
