How many people are on the Internet? Would you believe one billion? That's a lot of eyeballs cruising the net.
comScore, Inc. says that the total global Internet audience (age 15 and older from home and work computers) has surpassed 1 billion visitors in December 2008, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.
******************************* comScore, Inc. News Release*******************
Global Internet Audience Surpasses 1 billion Visitors, According to comScore
Asia-Pacific Region Accounts for 41 Percent of Internet Users
China Ranks as Largest Internet Population in the World
LONDON, U.K., January 23, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported that total global Internet audience (age 15 and older from home and work computers) has surpassed 1 billion visitors in December 2008, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41 percent, followed by Europe (28 percent share), North America (18 percent share), Latin-America (7 percent share), and the Middle East & Africa (5 percent share).
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Total Worldwide Internet Audience: Regional Breakdown
Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
December 2008
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
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Region Total Unique Share of Total
Visitors (000) Worldwide
Internet Audience (%)
Worldwide 1,007,730 100.0%
Asia Pacific 416,281 41.3%
Europe 282,651 28.0%
North America 185,109 18.4%
Latin America 74,906 7.4%
Middle East & Africa 48,783 4.8%
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* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
“Surpassing one billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet,” said Magid Abraham, President and Chief Executive Officer, comScore, Inc. “It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat. The second billion will be online before we know it, and the third billion will arrive even faster than that, until we have a truly global network of interconnected people and ideas that transcend borders and cultural boundaries.”
Chinese Internet Audience Outranks U.S.
China represented the largest online audience in the world in December 2008 with 180 million Internet users, representing nearly 18 percent of the total worldwide Internet audience, followed by the U.S. (16.2 percent share), Japan (6.0 percent share), Germany (3.7 percent share) and the U.K. (3.6 percent share).
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Top 15 Countries by Internet Audience
Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
December 2008
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
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Country Total Unique Share of Total
Visitors (000) Worldwide Internet
Audience (%)
Worldwide 1,007,730 100.0%
China 179,710 17.8%
United States 163,300 16.2%
Japan 59,993 6.0%
Germany 36,992 3.7%
United Kingdom 36,664 3.6%
France 34,010 3.4%
India 32,099 3.2%
Russia 28,998 2.9%
Brazil 27,688 2.7%
South Korea 27,254 2.7%
Canada 21,809 2.2%
Italy 20,780 2.1%
Spain 17,893 1.8%
Mexico 12,486 1.2%
Netherlands 11,812 1.2%
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* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Google Sites Ranks as Top Internet Property Worldwide
The most popular property in the world in December was Google Sites, with 777.9 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites (647.9 million visitors), Yahoo! Sites (562.6 million visitors). Facebook.com, which has grown a dramatic 127-percent in the past year to 222 million visitors, now ranks as the top social networking site worldwide and the seventh most popular property in the world.
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Top 15 Worldwide Properties
Ranked by Total Worldwide Unique Visitors (000)*
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
December 2008
Source: comScore World Metrix
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Property Total Unique % Reach of Total
Visitors (000) Worldwide Internet
Audience (%)
Total Worldwide
Internet Audience 1,007,730 100.0%
Google Sites 775,980 77.0%
Microsoft Sites 646,915 64.2%
Yahoo! Sites 562,571 55.8%
AOL LLC 273,020 27.1%
Wikimedia Foundation Sites 272,998 27.1%
eBay 240,947 23.9%
Facebook.COM 221,791 22.0%
Amazon Sites 187,354 18.6%
CBS Corporation 178,844 17.7%
Fox Interactive Media 172,841 17.2%
Ask Network 164,513 16.3%
Apple Inc. 161,500 16.0%
Tencent Inc. 158,617 15.7%
Baidu.com Inc. 152,447 15.1%
Adobe Sites 123,623 12.3%
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* 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.
