Researcher: Yahoo Sites Helped By Google

Sunnyvale, CA (AHN) - Yahoo sites appear to be getting much of their U.S. traffic from Google, an Internet researcher said Thursday. The figures bolster the view that the Internet company would thrive even if it sold its search unit to Microsoft.

Hitwise research vice president Heather Hopkins wrote that a review of Yahoo's June traffic for its top 20 online properties showed the majority of visits came from Google searches, not Yahoo.

Almost half of the U.S. traffic to Yahoo Answers came from Google with only 20 percent provided by Yahoo searches. In 14 out of 20 instances, Google searches originated most U.S. traffic to Yahoo sites.

Yahoo investors, set to meet Aug. 1 at the company's annual meeting, are debating whether the Internet company should sell its search unit to Microsoft, after the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company rebuffed an attempted acquisition by the software giant.