Russia Has World’s Most Engaged Social Networking Audience

By Prne, Gaea News Network
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

LONDON -

- Vkontakte.ru Ranks as Most Popular Social Networking Site in Russia with 14 Million Visitors

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.

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

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 Country Average Hours Average Pages per Visitor per Visitor World-Wide 3.7 525 Russia 6.6 1,307 Brazil 6.3 1,220 Canada 5.6 649 Puerto Rico 5.3 587 Spain 5.3 968 Finland 4.7 919 United Kingdom 4.6 487 Germany 4.5 793 United States 4.2 477 Colombia 4.1 473 Mexico 4.0 488 Chile 4.0 418 Ireland 3.8 462 Turkey 3.7 427 Venezuela 3.7 454 France 3.6 526 Australia 3.4 374 New Zealand 3.4 386 Switzerland 3.2 430 Italy 3.2 399 * 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)* May 2009 Total Russia, Age 15+ Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix Property Total Unique % Reach of Total Visitors Online (000) Population Total Russian Internet Audience 31,907 100% Social Networking 18,877 59% Vkontakte.ru 14,310 45% Odnoklassniki.ru 7,750 24% Mail.Ru - My World 6,321 20% Fotostrana.ru 1,624 5% Privet.ru 942 3% Moikrug.ru 839 3% Facebook.com 616 2% Steamcommunity.com 433 1% MySpace Sites 371 1% Vkrugudruzei.ru 214 1% * 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.

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Source: comScore, Inc.

Jamie Gavin of comScore, Inc., +44-(0)-207-099-1775, worldpress at comscore.com / Logo: https://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO

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