Google appears to have bested its rival Microsoft to become the world's most visited website and most valuable global brand, according to figures from comScore Networks. The search engine managed to rack up 528 million unique visitors last month, up 5 per cent on February.

Microsoft had 527 million visitors during the same month, up 3.7 per cent. Yahoo came in third, with 476 million, then Time Warner with 272 million, followed by eBay with 256 million.

With Google seemingly adding more services to its portfolio on a daily basis (this writer is typing this story using its Docs and Spreadsheets website), people are tending to stick around more on the site, rather than searching for other websites and promptly leaving. Of course, buying amazingly popular video sharing website YouTube helps a bit as well.

According to Bob Ivins, executive vice president for comScore, while these latest figures put a statistical cigarette paper between the two giants, the gap between them is set to grow.

Google has also become the world's most powerful brand. According to research company Millward Brown, the company ranks above GE, Microsoft and Coca-Cola and has a brand value of $66.4bn. The figure is based on the potential earnings of a brand and loyalty of customers.