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Microsoft Sites Captures Largest Share of Time Spent Online Worldwide

Fri Nov 6, 2009 12:17pm EST
Facebook and YouTube Combined Account for Nearly 10 Percent of Time Spent
Online Globally








RESTON, Va., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a
leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of online
engagement at the top worldwide properties based on data from its comScore
World Metrix service. The study found that Microsoft Sites captured nearly 15
percent of time spent online worldwide in September, making it the most
engaging global property, followed by Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites.
Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis,
was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion
hours on the site in August, up 193 percent from the previous year. 

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)

Microsoft Sites Captures Nearly 15 Percent Share of Attention Worldwide 
In September 2009, nearly 27 billion hours were spent on the Internet globally
by a record online population of 1.2 billion Internet users age 15 and older.
Microsoft Sites accounted for 14.5 percent of total minutes spent online in
September, making it the most engaging global property, with Microsoft's
Windows Live Messenger representing nearly 70 percent of time spent on the
property during the month. Google Sites captured 9.3 percent of total minutes
(2.5 billion hours), with YouTube accounting for nearly half of total time
spent (1.2 billion hours) at the property. Yahoo! Sites ranked as the third
most engaging Web property at 1.7 billion hours, followed by Facebook.com at
1.4 billion hours. Facebook's share of attention reached 5.1 percent in
September, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year, as its
continued growth in popularity precipitated this surge in share. 

    Top Global Properties Based on Total Hours
    September 2009 vs. September 2008
    Total Audience Age 15+ at Home/Work Locations*
    Source: comScore World Metrix
    -----------------------------
                                           Total Hours (MM)
                                           ---------------
                                  Sep-2008        Sep-2009      % Change
                                  --------        --------      --------
    Total Internet : Total
     Audience                       21,746          26,988            24
    ----------------------          ------          ------           ---
    Microsoft Sites                  2,734           3,920            43
    ---------------                  -----           -----           ---
    Google Sites                     1,703           2,512            48
    ------------                     -----           -----           ---
    Yahoo! Sites                     1,975           1,699           -14
    ------------                     -----           -----           ---
    Facebook.com                       474           1,387           193
    ------------                       ---           -----           ---
    Tencent Inc.                       589             893            52
    ------------                       ---             ---           ---
    AOL LLC                            584             513           -12
    -------                            ---             ---           ---
    eBay                               231             239             3
    ----                               ---             ---           ---
    Fox Interactive Media              361             204           -44
    ---------------------              ---             ---           ---
    Baidu.com Inc.                     175             163            -7
    --------------                     ---             ---           ---
    Lycos Sites                         59             107            81
    -----------                        ---             ---           ---

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



Global Regions Exhibit Different Preferences at Top Online Brands
A regional analysis of the top global properties in time spent by their
visitors revealed different preferences across global markets. Microsoft Sites
held the largest share of time spent among the top worldwide properties in
Europe (16.8 percent), Latin America (35.9 percent) and the Middle East -
Africa (33.1 percent). Yahoo! Sites captured the largest share of time in
North America with 11.2 percent share, while also attracting a notable
7.9-percent share of time spent in the Asia Pacific region. Google Sites
commanded a strong share of time spent in Latin America (19.4 percent), Middle
East - Africa (9.7 percent), Europe (9.6 percent) and North America (9.1
percent). China's Tencent Inc. captured the largest share of visitors' time in
Asia Pacific with a 10.7-percent share, but had negligible engagement in other
worldwide regions. 

    Share of Time Spent at Top 5 Global Properties Based on Total Minutes
    September 2009
    Total Audience Age 15+ at Home/Work Locations*
    Source: comScore World Metrix
    -----------------------------

                       Share (%) of Total Time Spent Online in Region
                       ----------------------------------------------
                                                                      Middle
                                North              Asia      Latin    East -
                   Worldwide   America   Europe   Pacific   America   Africa
                   ---------   -------   ------   -------   -------   ------
    Microsoft Sites  14.5%       8.6%     16.8%     6.4%      35.9%    33.1%
    ---------------  ----        ---      ----      ---       ----     ----
    Google Sites      9.3%       9.1%      9.6%     6.4%      19.4%     9.7%
    ------------      ---        ---       ---      ---       ----      ---
    Yahoo! Sites      6.3%      11.2%      2.0%     7.9%       2.1%     4.9%
    ------------      ---       ----       ---      ---        ---      ---
    Facebook.com      5.1%       6.0%      6.6%     2.4%       5.0%     8.0%
    ------------      ---        ---       ---      ---        ---      ---
    Tencent Inc.      3.3%       0.0%      0.0%    10.7%       0.0%     0.0%
    ------------      ---        ---       ---     ----        ---      ---

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



"The Internet continues to be a dynamic and growing environment around the
world with the global online population climbing more than 20 percent in the
last year," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media
Metrix. "With the U.S. economy only now emerging from a recession, many
multinational corporations have shifted the focus of their growth strategies
towards developing markets and the Internet represents an important aspect of
those strategies. Understanding the global Internet landscape is the first
step towards executing effective marketing strategies in these growing
markets."

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.

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SOURCE  comScore, Inc.

Sarah Radwanick of comScore, Inc., +1-312-775-6538, press@comscore.com



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