Global Internet Audience Tops 1 Billion; China Has Most Visitors

January 23, 2009

This article is included in these additional categories:

Asia-Pacific | Europe & Middle East | Global & Regional | Search Engine Optimization

The global internet audience surged past the one-billion mark in December 2008, fueled by users in China – the largest online population in the world, and the Asia Pacific region, which accounts for more than two-fifths of total visitors, according to World Metrix data released by comScore.

comscore-world-metrix-total-worldwide-audience-regional-breakdown-december-2008.jpg

Global internet users (defined as those age 15+ who access the internet from their home and/or work) in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of internet users at 41%, followed by Europe (28% share), North America (18% share), Latin-America (7% share), and the Middle East & Africa (5% share).

Chinese Internet Audience Outranks US

China represented the largest online audience in the world in December 2008 with 180 million internet users, representing nearly 18% of the total worldwide internet audience, followed by the US (16.2% share), Japan (6.0% share), Germany (3.7 percent share) and the UK (3.6 percent share).

The top 15 countries:

comscore-world-metrix-top-15-countries-internet-audience-unique-visitors-december-2008.jpg

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), and Yahoo Sites (562.6 million visitors).

The top 15 properties:

comscore-world-metrix-top-15-worldwide-properties-december-2008.jpg

Facebook.com, which has grown an impressive 127% 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, comScore reported.

“Surpassing one billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet,” said Magid Abraham, president and CEO of comScore. “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.”

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