The State of Social Media
Vkontakte.ru Ranks as Most Popular Social Networking Site in Russia with 14 Million Visitors
LONDON, U.K., July 2, 2009 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of the social networking category in Russia, based on data from the Comscore World Metrix audience measurement service. The study found Russia to have the world’s most engaged social networking audience, with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month.
Two-Thirds of Global Internet Users Access Social Networking Sites
Of the 1.1 billion people age 15 and older worldwide who accessed the Internet from a home or work location in May 2009, 734.2 million visited at least one social networking site during the month, representing a penetration of 65 percent of the worldwide Internet audience. The Russian social networking audience had the highest engagement among the 40 individual countries reported by Comscore, with an average of 6.6 hours and 1,307 pages consumed per visitor. Brazil ranked close behind at 6.3 hours, followed by Canada (5.6 hours), Puerto Rico (5.3 hours) and Spain (5.3 hours).
“Social networking has become a popular online pastime not only in mature Internet markets like North America, but also in developing, high-growth Internet markets such as Russia,” said Mike Read, SVP & managing director, Comscore Europe. “In a country as geographically large as Russia, social networking represents a way of connecting people from one corner of the country to the other. The highly engaged behavior of social networkers in Russia offers significant opportunity for marketers and advertisers seeking to reach these audiences.”
Top 20 Highest Engagement Social Networking Country Audiences*
Ranked by Average Hours per Visitor*
May 2009
Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
Source: Comscore World Metrix
*Out of the 38 individual countries currently reported on by Comscore around the world.**Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Vkontakte.ru is Russia’s Largest Social Networking Site
Of the 31.9 million people who accessed the Internet in Russia in April, 18.9 million visited at least one social networking site, representing a reach of 59 percent of the total online population. The most popular of these sites was Russian-based Vkontakte.ru with 14.3 million visitors, followed by Odnoklassniki.ru (7.8 million visitors), Mail.ru – My World (6.3 million visitors) and Fotostrana.ru (1.6 million visitors). Facebook.com attracted 616,000 Russian visitors, up 277 percent versus year ago.
A Selection of Leading Social Networking Sites
Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
Total Russia, Age 15+ Home & Work Locations
*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
About Comscore Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Ayaan Mohamud Comscore, Inc. + 44 (0) 207-099-1775 worldpress@comscore.com