Worldwide Internet Audience has Grown 10 Percent in Last Year, According to Comscore Networks

India, China and Russia Experience Highest Audience Growth Rates Year-over-Year; Canada, Israel, and Korea Log the Most Time Online

London, U.K., March 6, 2007 – Comscore Networks, a leader in measuring the digital age, today announced that 747 million people, age 15+, used the Internet worldwide in January 2007, a 10-percent increase versus January 2006. Among the top 15 countries (ranked by penetration), Internet audiences in India, the Russian Federation and China increased the most in 2006, growing 33, 21 and 20 percent, respectively. China now represents the second-largest Internet population in the world, with 86.8 million users, after the U.S., which rose 2 percent year-over-year to 153.4 million users age 15 or older in January 2007.

“The importance of the worldwide Internet population continues to grow,” said Bob Ivins, managing director, Comscore Europe. “Internet users outside the U.S. now account for 80 percent of the world’s online population, with rapidly developing countries experiencing double-digit growth rates year-over-year.”

Canada, Israel, and South Korea Lead the World in Online Engagement

As a measure of engagement, Comscore also analyzed the top 10 countries ranked by average hours online per visitor for January 2007. Canada led the list, with the average user spending 39.6 hours (and 41.3 hours/ month among broadband users) online during the month. Rounding out the top 5 were Israel, South Korea, the U.S. and the U.K. – all countries with high broadband penetration. In fact, in each of the top 10 countries, the time spent online by users with a broadband connection was substantially greater than the time spent by users with a narrowband connection.

“We have all believed that ‘always-on’ broadband connections stimulate usage – this study empirically confirms that conclusion,” Ivins commented.

Top 15 Countries by Internet Penetration
Unique Visitors Age 15+*
January 2007 vs. January 2006
Total Worldwide – All Locations
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Jan-06

(000)

Jan-07 (000)

Percentage Change

Worldwide

676,878

746,934

10%

United States

150,897

153,447

2%

China

72,408

86,757

20%

Japan

51,450

53,670

4%

Germany

31,209

32,192

3%

United Kingdom

29,773

30,072

1%

South Korea

24,297

26,350

8%

France

23,712

24,560

4%

India

15,867

21,107

33%

Canada

18,332

20,392

11%

Italy

15,987

18,106

13%

Brazil

12,845

14,964

16%

Spain

12,206

12,710

4%

Russian Federation

10,471

12,707

21%

Netherlands

10,772

11,077

3%

Mexico

8,624

10,149

18%

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Countries by Average Monthly Hours Online per Unique Visitor
Broadband vs. Narrowband
Among Visitors Age 15+*
January 2007
Total Worldwide – All Locations
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Average Monthly Hours Online

Unique Visitors Rank

Among All Users

Among Broadband Users

Among Narrowband Users

Canada

9

39.6

41.3

14.2

Israel

28

37.4

38.8

10.9

South Korea

6

34.0

36.1

N/A**

United States

1

31.6

37.2

13.5

United Kingdom

5

31.2

35.6

7.5

Chile

20

30.9

38.6

12.6

Brazil

11

30.2

38.5

17.0

Finland

30

28.7

34.2

N/A**

Spain

12

27.9

33.4

9.1

Sweden

21

27.5

31.4

9.7

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
** Level of narrowband penetration extremely low, therefore an accurate reportable estimate is not available.

Top Global Properties

Comscore also reported the top worldwide Web properties for January, ranked by unique visitors. Microsoft Sites topped the list with 510.3 million worldwide visitors, followed by Google Sites with 502.5 million worldwide visitors, and Yahoo! Sites with 467.8 million worldwide visitors.

Top 15 Online Properties Worldwide, Among Visitors Age 15+*
January 2007
Total Worldwide – All Locations
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Unique Visitors

(000)

Worldwide Total

746,934

Microsoft Sites

510,320

Google Sites

502,464

Yahoo! Sites

467,832

Time Warner Network

262,413

eBay

248,854

Wikipedia Sites

189,003

Amazon Sites

149,817

Fox Interactive Media

139,821

CNET Networks

118,717

Apple Computer, Inc.

116,520

Ask Network

108,870

Adobe Sites

101,810

Lycos, Inc.

90,208

Viacom Digital

76,389

New York Times Digital

72,180

Excludes traffic from public computers such as internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Companies interested in obtaining information about Comscore World Metrix services should call +44 (0) 207 099 1761.

About Comscore World Metrix

Comscore World Metrix is the first service to continuously measure and report online behaviour on a world-wide basis, providing visitation metrics and demographic characteristics for Web site audiences around the world. With active representation of countries that comprise the vast majority of the global Internet population, World Metrix provides its clients with worldwide Internet population estimates and harmonized online performance metrics based on a consistent methodology across all countries. More than 100 clients subscribe to Comscore’s World Metrix service, including 8 of the top 10 interactive advertising agencies.

About Comscore Networks
Comscore Networks is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behaviour, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panellists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behaviour and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com

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