As traffic to Facebook continues to grow, the social network is beginning to emerge as an important stakeholder in the online video space. According to online measurement firm comScore, the number of users viewing video on the site has been growing consistently over the past twelve months, and it could end the year with the second greatest reach of all online video providers in the U.S., second only to YouTube owner Google.

Data from comScore’s Video Metrix service suggests the number of unique U.S. users viewing video content on Facebook has grown from 13.3 million in April 2009 to 41.3 million in April 2010, representing year-over-year growth of almost 211 percent.

In the two-month period ending April 30, unique viewers grew from 36.6 million to 41.3 million, positioning Facebook as the fifth largest video property on the Internet in terms of reach behind Google sites, Yahoo sites, Fox Interactive Media properties, and Vevo. If Facebook continues to grow its audience at its current rate, however, it’s on course to take the second spot by the end of 2010.

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