WebProNews

According to JuxtConsult, an online survey of 30,000 Internet users in India revealed that Yahoo!, Google, and eBay topped the list of most visited sites in the subcontinent with a population of about one billion.

The research company said Yahoo! was the choice website for communication services like email and instant messaging, commanding 38% of the emailing population and 74% of instant messaging clients.

Google is by far the king of search in India commanding 75% of generic searches, while eBay remains the premiere online shopping portal with 44% of respondents exhibiting loyalty.

The numbers indicate that net surfers are often creatures of habit, finding a website they like and sticking with it.

"There is a loyalty bias in terms of usage of websites. Especially if users want to email, shop on-line or engage in any other generic activity, they are loyal to their favorite website," said Sanjay Tewari, director of JuxtConsult.

Emerging online markets in vastly populated countries such as India and China are becoming very attractive to online marketers for obvious reasons. Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are all jockeying for position in these countries.