10 Most Popular Web Sites, According to Alexa.Com

Alexa.com ranks Web sites according to the percentage of its users who visit each site. Millions use the Alexa toolbar.

Google, ranked No. 1, has become a word it's so popular. "Google it" means to search for a term using the Google search engine. It is used mainly to search for text information, but it can be used to search through images and videos, as well as maps and news. Gmail is the free Google email system. Many other free things are available on Google: Google Books (a library) and Youtube (a site for uploading and downloading videos). Google shows no pictures on its homepage, so there are no distractions while the user searches for information.

Facebook, a social network, is No. 2. A person can post a picture of herself on Facebook, join communities of other people, and write on the "wall" of other users. As of September 15, 2009, Facebook passed the 300 million user mark and experienced a "cash flow positive" moment.

Yahoo!, a search engine, is ranked No. 3. Yahoo! shows pictures and ads on the front page. It has links to Yahoo Mail, Facebook, and Flickr, a picture-sharing site.

Youtube, the video site purchased by Google, was founded in February, 2005. It is ranked No. 4. Users can watch, upload, and download videos at YouTube.

At No. 5 is Windows Live from Microsoft. Like Google and Yahoo!, visitors use it to search for information.

At No. 6 is Wikipedia, an encyclopedia. Wikipedia is written entirely by online volunteers. Consequently, the quality of the information varies. It's popular because it's a quick reference.

Blogger.com, at No. 7, is a Web site that hosts bloggers, individuals who publish personal commentary. It was purchased by Google in 2003. Bloggers publish at Blogger.com and make money from advertisements.

At No. 8 is MSN, the Microsoft Network. It's related to Windows Live and Bing: All three are search engines with links to other sites.

Ranked No. 9 is Baidu.com, the Chinese search engine.

Yahoo! Japan is at No. 10. Much of the language of the site is in the Katakana script, which is a character set that is alphabetic in nature, unlike the traditional Chinese characters that make up much of the Japanese language.

Those are the top 10 sites listed by Alexa.com.