12th August 2008 5:28 pm

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of worldwide usage of social networking sites, indicating that while the growth in new users in North America is beginning to level off, it is burgeoning in other regions around the world.

During the past year, the total North American audience of social networkers has grown 9 percent compared to a much larger 25 percent growth for the world at large. The Middle East-Africa region (up 66 percent), Europe (up 35 percent), and Latin America (up 33 percent) have each grown at well-above average rates.

Social Networking Growth by Worldwide Region
                                  Unique Visitors (000)
                            Jun-07       Jun-08       Percent Change
Worldwide                   464,437      580,510           25%
Asia Pacific                162,738      200,555           23%
Europe                      122,527      165,256           35%
North America           120,848      131,255            9%
Latin America                40,098       53,248           33%
Middle East - Africa         18,226       30,197           66%
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“While the social networking trend first took off in North America, it is beginning to reach a point of maturity in the region,” said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. “However, the phenomenon is still growing rapidly in other regions around the world - especially as the established American brands turn their focus to developing markets.”

Facebook and Hi5 Lead Global Growth among Top Social Networking Sites
During the past year, many of the top social networking sites have demonstrated rapid growth in their global user bases.

Facebook.com, which took over the global lead among social networking sites in April 2008, has made a concerted effort to become more culturally relevant in markets outside the U.S. Its introduction of natural language interfaces in several markets has helped propel the site to 153-percent growth during the past year.

Meanwhile, the emphasis Hi5.com has put on its full-scale localization strategy has helped the site double its visitor base to more than 56 million. Other social networking sites, including Friendster.com (up 50 percent), Orkut (up 41 percent), and Bebo.com (up 32 percent) have demonstrated particularly strong growth on a global basis.

Worldwide Growth among Selected Social Networking Sites
June 2008 vs. June 2007
Total Worldwide Audience, Age 15+
                              
                                      Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                 Jun-2007        Jun-2008       % Change
Total Internet: Total Audience   778,310          860,514          11%
Social Networking                464,437          580,510          25%
FACEBOOK.COM                      52,167          132,105         153%
MYSPACE.COM                      114,147          117,582           3%
HI5.COM                           28,174           56,367         100%
FRIENDSTER.COM                    24,675           37,080          50%
Orkut                             24,120           34,028          41%
BEBO.COM                          18,200           24,017          32%
Skyrock Network                   17,638           21,041          19%
Facebook’s recent ascension to become the top global social networking site has been spurred by its substantial growth across worldwide regions. Though its largest visitor base is still in North America (49 million), Facebook’s growth in the region is a relatively modest 38-percent. In every other worldwide region, Facebook’s audience has more than quadrupled. 

Europe is quickly catching up with North America as Facebook’s largest visitor base with 35 million visitors in June, a 303-percent increase and a net addition of nearly 27 million monthly visitors versus year ago. Other worldwide regions have seen even more dramatic growth on a percentage basis.

“Facebook has done an exceptional job of leveraging its brand internationally during the past year,” added Mr. Flanagan. “By increasing the site’s relevance to local markets through local language interface translation, the site is now competing strongly or even capturing the lead in several markets where it had a relatively minor presence just a year ago.”

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