HispanicBusiness

Facebook has finally overtaken Google as the most visited website in the United States, according to a blog post by Heather Dougherty, Director of Research at Hitwise.

For the week ending Saturday March 13th, Facebook reigned supreme with 7.07 percent of all U.S. Internet visits, with Google's 7.03 percent yielding a close runner-up position. This means together Facebook and Google accounted for over 14 percent of all U.S. Internet visits, and the study only compared the domains -- i.e. Facebook.com versus Google.com, without taking into account Google-owned sites like Gmail.com.

Previously, Facebook beat out Google on Christmas Eve and Day, New Year's Day, and the weekend of March 6th and 7th.

Does this mean more people are getting their news from Facebook than Google?

Maybe.

However, "the more surprising thing about Hitwise's report," says Jessi Hempel at Fortune's Daily Brainstorm blog, "is the rate at which Facebook grew. The site's traffic increased 185 percent over the past year; Google's traffic jumped just 9 percent during the same period. And because Facebook is more of a destination, while Google tends to be a launching point for web use, Facebook's users stick around once they arrive."

The study also shows the importance of content sharing via social media.

"People want information from friends they trust, versus the the anonymity of a search engine," Matt Tatham, Director of Media Relations at Hitwise, told technology/facebook_most_visited/" target="_blank">CNNMoney.com.

"It's definitely a big moment for Facebook, even though they beat by a small margin," Tatham said. "We've seen it coming for quite a long time."