Comscore Releases Report on Non-Resident Visitation to Top Local Sites in India
Mumbai, India, November 14, 2011 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report on visitation to local sites in India by online users from outside of the country. The report found that among the top local news destinations in India, most brands saw non-residents contribute a significant share of global visitors with 36.2 percent of The Times of India’s global audience and 31.6 percent of Oneindia’s audience originating from outside the country. Other sites including those within the Portals, Financial and Sports categories, also saw significant non-resident traffic drive their global audience reach.
“With many local sites attracting a significant portion of visitors from outside of India, these visitors, who are very likely to be non-resident Indians, are an important segment for brands to consider in their digital strategies and often represent very active online users,” said Kedar Gavane, Comscore director for India. “Understanding this important geographic distinction in audience composition is important for publishers in delivering relevant content and for advertisers in reaching their desired audiences.”
Local News Destinations See Significant Traffic from Outside of India
Among some of the largest local news sites in India, many destinations generated a significant portion of their traffic from outside of India. The Times of India, which ranked as the largest site in the Newspaper category with nearly 7.9 million visitors in India (age 15 and older accessing from a home or work location), attracted 36.2 percent of its global traffic from outside of India in September. Oneindia reached more than 4.4 million visitors in India in September 2011, with 31.6 percent of its global visitor base accessing from outside of the country, while HT Media Ltd. saw 28.1 percent of visitation from outside of India. 20.1 percent of India.com Sites’ global visitors were non-residents, with the largest local General News destination in India, NDTV, seeing 38.2 percent of its audience represented by this segment of visitors.
Among these selected news sites, Mid-Day.com and DeccanChronicle.com displayed the largest percentage of visitors from outside of India with both drawing more than 45 percent of their global audiences from outside of the country.
Selected Newspaper Sites in India by Total Unique Visitors (000) September 2011Total India – Visitors Age 15+ Home/Work Locations*Source: Comscore MMX
Total Unique Visitors in India (000)
Total Unique Visitors Worldwide (000)
% of Global Unique Visitors in India
% of Global Unique Visitors Outside India
The Times of India
7,871
12,336
63.8%
36.2%
Oneindia
4,449
6,501
68.4%
31.6%
HT Media Ltd
4,393
6,109
71.9%
28.1%
India.com Sites
3,786
4,737
79.9%
20.1%
NDTV
3,558
5,756
61.8%
38.2%
The Economic Times
3,169
4,340
73.0%
27.0%
IBN Live
2,355
3,562
66.1%
33.9%
The Indian Express Group
2,022
2,961
68.3%
31.7%
The Hindu Group
1,885
2,850
Bhaskar.com
1,672
2,105
79.4%
20.6%
Navbharat Times
938
1,081
86.7%
13.3%
Dnaindia.com
743
1,129
65.9%
34.1%
Mid-day.com
450
821
54.8%
45.2%
Maharashtra Times
395
446
88.6%
11.4%
Financialexpress.com
384
460
83.4%
16.6%
Dinakaran.com
297
417
71.2%
28.8%
Deccanchronicle.com
293
583
50.2%
49.8%
Deccanherald.com
286
461
62.0%
38.0%
*Excludes visits from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs
Portals, Banks and Cricket Sites Witness Strong Visitation from Outside of India
Other local destinations also saw visitors from outside of India contribute significantly to their global audiences. Portal IN.com saw more than half (50.4 percent) of its worldwide audience come from outside of India, while the largest banking site in India, ICICI Bank, saw 16.1 percent of its audience in September visit from locations outside of the country.
CricBuzz.com and CricTime.com saw non-resident traffic at 34.2 percent and 46.0 percent of their total global audience, while entertainment site BharatMovies.com had more than half (56.5 percent) of its visitors access from countries other than India.
Selected Sites in India by Total Unique Visitors (000) September 2011Total India – Visitors Age 15+ Home/Work Locations*Source: Comscore MMX
Selected Portals
IndiaTimes.com
11,296
17,009
66.4%
33.6%
Rediff.com India Ltd
15,494
19,003
81.5%
18.5%
IN.com
10,176
20,513
49.6%
50.4%
Sify Ltd
3,032
3,892
77.9%
22.1%
Selected Financial Sites
ICICI Bank
4,811
5,733
83.9%
16.1%
Moneycontrol.com
4,332
70.9%
29.1%
HDFC Group
4,156
4,532
91.7%
8.3%
State Bank of India
3,870
4,265
90.7%
9.3%
Selected Sports Sites
Espncricinfo.com
3,785
7,945
47.6%
52.4%
Cricbuzz.com
1,114
1,693
65.8%
34.2%
Crictime.com
895
1,657
54.0%
46.0%
Cricketnext
340
524
64.8%
35.2%
Other Selected Sites
Sulekha
5,333
7,497
71.1%
28.9%
MakeMyTrip
4,080
4,808
84.9%
15.1%
ClearTrip
3,453
3,872
89.2%
10.8%
Bharatmovies.com
1,207
2,773
43.5%
56.5%
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com