Brits watched 5.5 billion videos online during February 2010, resulting in a 37 per cent increase from the previous year.
Thanks to the popularity of Google-owned video site YouTube, the US search giant attracted the most viewers, who watched a total of 2.5 billion clips in February. The BBC was the second most popular site, bringing in 140 million viewers – an increase of 143 per cent on 2009 figures.
The data was compiled by comScore’s Video Metrix service, which also revealed that Facebook had seen the most rapid rise in popularity with a 205 per cent jump in videos viewed over the past 12 months to 43 million.
The growing popularity of online video content has not been lost on digital advertisers and February’s figures are likely to further bolster its growing reputation.
Mike Read, managing director of comScore Europe, said: “The U.K. online video market continues to soar and is attracting a greater and greater share of Internet users’ attention.
“In particular, we’ve seen eyeballs move towards the online channel to watch more long-form, professional video content, such as popular broadcast network TV shows.
“This trend presents a significant opportunity to advertisers, as comScore research has consistently shown that online video advertising is effective at building brands.”