comScore's first monthly rankings of top European internet properties, based on data collected through its World Metrix audience rating service, had Google sites in the lead as of July.

Google sites attracted 156.3 million unique European visitors in July, followed by Microsoft sites with 144.1 million visitors and Yahoo sites with 99.5 million visitors. "Google sites were visited by a greater proportion of the online population in Europe (75 percent) than in the U.S. (60 percent)," said Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe, in a statement.

In July, Google and Microsoft sites vied for the first and second positions in 13 of 15 European countries (see table, below), often followed by a "local" company with a major national online presence in the third spot (such as France Telecom in France).