RESTON, Va., July 22, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its first study of Internet usage in India, which reports that more than 28 million people in India age 15 and older accessed the Internet from home and work locations in May. This represents a 27-percent increase versus year ago, making India one of the fastest-growing Internet populations among the 37 individually-reported countries in the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. Additionally, the fact that Internet users in India represent approximately only 3 percent of the population indicates significant potential for continued strong growth.

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"India truly represents one of the most promising emerging Internet markets, given both the size and technological sophistication of the population," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. "While global Internet brands like Google and Yahoo! currently reign as the most visited Web properties in India, several local players also have strong positions in the market."

Some findings from the study include:

-- The average Indian Internet user visited the Internet 25 times during the month and was online for 28 minutes per visit.

-- Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest Internet users among all age segments, spending nearly 12 hours online per month on average.

-- Some of the fastest growing Web site categories during the past year included Maps (up 64 percent), Sports (up 60 percent), Entertainment -- Movies (up 55 percent), and Finance -- News/Research (up 52 percent).

Google Sites Ranks as Top Web Property in India

Google Sites ranked as the top property in India with nearly 20 million visitors in May, a 35-percent increase versus year ago. The property grew on the strength of several Google-owned entities, including Google Search (up 38 percent to 17.1 million visitors), social networking site Orkut (up 39 percent to 9.3 million visitors), blog platform Blogger.com (up 102 percent to 7.3 million visitors), and video site YouTube (up 131 percent to 6.3 million visitors).

    Top 15 Web Properties in India Ranked by Unique Visitors
    May 2008 vs. May 2007
    Total India -- Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*
    Source: comScore World Metrix

    Properties                             Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                     May-07          May-08        % Change
    Total Internet : Total Audience  22,805          28,886            27
    Google Sites                     14,597          19,746            35
    Yahoo! Sites                     14,664          18,704            28
    Microsoft Sites                  10,800          11,980            11
    Rediff.com India Ltd              7,740           9,246            19
    AOL LLC                             N/A           6,325           N/A
    NIC.IN                            5,675           5,953             5
    Times Internet Limited            5,002           5,948            19
    Wikipedia Sites                   4,353           5,264            21
    Naukri                            3,295           5,105            55
    eBay                              4,204           5,020            19
    Indian Railways                     N/A           4,454           N/A
    CNET Networks                     3,194           3,841            20
    Ask Network                       3,155           3,444             9
    BharatMatrimony.com Pvt Ltd.      2,336           3,420            46
    Monster Worldwide                 2,854           3,301            16

    *Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access
     from mobile phones/PDAs.

Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 18.7 million visitors (up 28 percent), followed by Microsoft Sites with 12 million (up 11 percent). Indian portal Rediff.com ranked as the top local property with 9.2 million visitor (up 19 percent), followed by government site NIC.in with nearly 6 million visitors (up 5 percent).

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

http://www.comscore.com

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