Analyst firm Hitwise reported that Facebook has overtaken Google to become the #1 website in the US. According to Hitwise, Facebook surpassed Google in terms of traffic for the week ending March 13, 2010.

Although FaceBook and Google serve two different purposes, this is a significant development in the Internet world. For quite a long time, Google was, without a doubt, the most visited site around the world. It still continues to attract humongous traffic. However, with more and more people flocking to social networking sites such as Facebook, we are witnessing a shift in the average web user’s usage patterns.

Even Google acknowledged this recently. Here is an excerpt from the 'Competition' section of Google’s latest SEC filing:

So it is true that a percentage of traffic to search engines is getting diverted to social networks. If you are searching for information on the net, you are more likely to visit a site which your friend or follower has recommended rather than rely on search engines. We have seen customers finding us through our Twitter account, for example.

Another contributing factor behind FaceBook’s growth could be the ultra-popular Farmville series of social games. I personally know many people who are addicted to Farmville and other social games on Facebook.

Will Facebook continue to rank over Google in terms of traffic? With Google coming up with Google Buzz to take on Facebook, it should be an interesting few months ahead of us.