MSN Empire hits 201m users

Microsoft says that the "MSN network of Internet services" has become the "No 1 worldwide Internet destination for consumers", with 201 million unique users visiting during June. This data quite probably comes from Media Metrix, since in the same paragraph Microsoft goes on to say that in the (11-month) period from July 1999 to May 2000, Media Metrix data showed that MSN grew 19 per cent, Yahoo increased 7 per cent, and AOL declined 6 per cent.

Presumably, the result would have been less favourable had a 12-month period been compared.

But with so many hits coming from cache and unlikely to be measured - especially in the consumer market - the real number of hits is really guess work. What the data does show is that if you buy enough consumer content services and link them together, you get a lot of hits - it is not surprising that users should stumble across the MSN Empire quite frequently.

A better measure of success would have been the economics of MSN, but Microsoft consumer group vp Rick Belluzzo was silent on this. He was "excited" that MSN had become "the top destination on the Internet". To thank the customers, Microsoft is donating 201 million online ad impressions to charitable causes. ®