Global Internet Audience Surpasses 1 Billion Visitors, According to comScore

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Asia-Pacific Region Accounts for 41 Percent of Internet Users

- China Ranks as Largest Internet Population in the World

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.

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

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).

Total Worldwide Internet Audience: Regional Breakdown
Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
December 2008
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Share of Total
Worldwide
Total Unique Internet
Region Visitors (000) 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 %
* 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).

Top 15 Countries by Internet Audience
Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
December 2008
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Share of Total
Worldwide
Total Unique Internet
Country Visitors (000) 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 %
* 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.

Top 15 Worldwide Properties
Ranked by Total Worldwide Unique Visitors (000)*
Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
December 2008
Source: comScore World Metrix
% Reach of Total
Worldwide
Total Unique Internet
Property Visitors(000) 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 272,998 27.1 %
Foundation Sites
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 172,841 17.2 %
Media
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 %
* 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.

ots Originaltext: comScore Networks
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Jamie Gavin of comScore, Inc., +44(0)207-099-1775,
worldpress@comscore.com /Photo: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO , AP
Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk,
photodesk@prnewswire.com