There was good news for Microsoft in its battle for the hearts and minds of internet users today, as new figures from market research firm comScore found that the firm was the most engaging global property online in September.

Data from the comScore World Metrix service found that Microsoft sites captured nearly 15 per cent of time spent online worldwide in September, putting the firm into first place ahead of Google and Yahoo.

Facebook.com in fourth continued to show impressive growth, however, with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in September, up a massive 193 per cent from the previous year.

Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger represented nearly 70 per cent of time spent on the property during the month, while for Google, YouTube was its most popular site, accounting for nearly half of total time spent (1.2 billion hours) on the property.

While Microsoft remained top dog in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East/Africa regions, Yahoo triumphed in North America.

“With the U.S. economy only now emerging from a recession, many multinational corporations have shifted the focus of their growth strategies towards developing markets, and the internet represents an important aspect of those strategies,” said executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, Jack Flanagan.

“Understanding the global internet landscape is the first step towards executing effective marketing strategies in these growing markets.”