TOKYO, Aug 07, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of online social networking in Japan based on data from the comScore World Metrix service. The report found that Facebook visitation more than tripled during the past year, while Mixi.jp was the most visited social networking destination in Japan with 12.7 million visitors.

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"The competition between social networks in Japan is beginning to heat up with the recent introduction of the Japanese language version of Facebook," said Maru Sato, managing director of comScore Japan. "The popular social networking site's launch of Spanish, French and German language sites earlier this year resulted in strong traffic growth in these markets. If this is a reliable indication, we can expect to see Facebook's growth in Japan follow a similar trend."

Facebook Sees Strong Growth in Japan, but Mixi Still Dominates

An analysis of selected social networking sites in Japan revealed that Mixi.jp held the leading position in the Japanese market with 12.7 million visitors in June. Facebook.com, which recently launched a Japanese language version of the site, has grown dramatically during the past year, gaining 213 percent to 538,000 visitors. MySpace.com attracted 1.2 million visitors, up 10 percent versus year ago, while Orkut drew 638,000 visitors and Gree had 455,000 visitors.

    Selected Social Networking Sites*
    June 2008 vs. June 2007
    Total Japan- Age 15+, Home and Work Locations**
    Source: comScore World Metrix

                                           Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                   Jun-2007        Jun-2008      % Change

    Total Internet                   53,716          56,220             5
    MIXI.JP                          12,367          12,738             3
    MYSPACE.COM                       1,137           1,245            10
    Orkut                               N/A             638           N/A
    FACEBOOK.COM                        172             538           213
    Gree                                531             455           -14

    *  Selected social networking sites based on comScore's Social Networking
       category.
    ** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
       from mobile phones or PDAs.

Orkut Visitors Show Heaviest Engagement

Though the number of visitors to Orkut is lower compared to other social networking sites in Japan, it ranks as the most engaging of the social networking sites in this study across several measures, including average usage days per visitor (11.5), average minutes per visitor (454), and average pages per visitor (1,557). Mixi.jp also generates fairly heavy engagement, while Facebook.com and MySpace.com show more modest engagement thus far.

    Selected Social Networking Sites*
    June 2008
    Total Japan- Age 15+, Home and Work Locations**
    Source: comScore World Metrix


                                  Average Usage     Average        Average
                                    Days per      Minutes per     Pages per
                                     Visitor        Visitor        Visitor

    Total Internet                     14.9         1,053.1         2,129
    Orkut                              11.5           454.0         1,557
    MIXI.JP                             7.5           134.0           246
    Gree                                3.5           130.5           214
    FACEBOOK.COM                        3.5            40.5            98
    MYSPACE.COM                         3.0            34.7            81

    *  Selected social networking sites based on comScore's Social Networking
       category.
    ** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
       from mobile phones or PDAs.

Added Mr. Sato, "As these newer sites attract larger audiences and become more familiar in the Japanese market, engagement among their users will inevitably grow."

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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