Yahoo beats Google in US web traffic for first time in two years

YAHOO has edged out Google in US web traffic for the first time since 2011, a modest victory for new CEO Marissa Mayer. 

Mayer Yahoo

YAHOO has attracted more United States web traffic than competitor Google for the first time in two years.

The latest comScore survey showed Yahoo edged past Google with 195.6 million unique US web visitors in July - the first time since May 2011 the company has been ahead.

The news has helped to lift the troubled company's shares, with Yahoo up 2.99 per cent at $US27.87 ($20.80) this morning.

The unusual No. 1 ranking also represents a modest victory for Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, who moved from Google a year ago with a reform agenda for the company.

She has pushed for Yahoo to focus on consumers' "daily habits" to develop products which will become a part of users' routines.

However Yahoo still trails Google in revenues and advertising, particularly in the key search segment.

A comScore survey earlier this month on search engines showed Google on top with a commanding 67 per cent market share, followed by Microsoft with 17.9 per cent, and Yahoo in third place with 11.3 per cent.

Still, Paul Ausick at 24/7 Wall Street says the new figures are significant.

"The rankings are worth more than just bragging rights, too," he said.

"Yahoo has taken over the top spot in comScore's Ad Focus rankings as well with an 87.2 per cent reach.

"That means that a page owned by a Yahoo site was viewed by 87.2 per cent of the 225 million total web visitors in July ... and that translates into higher ad rates and more revenue for Yahoo."

Last month, Yahoo said its second-quarter profit rose sharply from a year ago, but revenues lagged.

Net profit rose 46 per cent from a year ago to $331 million, slightly better than expected, but revenues excluding payments to partners fell one per cent to $1.07 billion.