Vkontakte.ru Ranks as Most Popular Social Networking Site in Russia with 14 Million Visitors

LONDON, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of the social networking category in Russia, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. The study found Russia to have the world's most engaged social networking audience, with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month.

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Two-Thirds of Global Internet Users Access Social Networking Sites

Of the 1.1 billion people age 15 and older worldwide who accessed the Internet from a home or work location in May 2009, 734.2 million visited at least one social networking site during the month, representing a penetration of 65 percent of the worldwide Internet audience. The Russian social networking audience had the highest engagement among the 40 individual countries reported by comScore, with an average of 6.6 hours and 1,307 pages consumed per visitor. Brazil ranked close behind at 6.3 hours, followed by Canada (5.6 hours), Puerto Rico (5.3 hours) and Spain (5.3 hours).

"Social networking has become a popular online pastime not only in mature Internet markets like North America, but also in developing, high-growth Internet markets such as Russia," said Mike Read, SVP & managing director, comScore Europe. "In a country as geographically large as Russia, social networking represents a way of connecting people from one corner of the country to the other. The highly engaged behavior of social networkers in Russia offers significant opportunity for marketers and advertisers seeking to reach these audiences."

         Top 20 Highest Engagement Social Networking Country
         Audiences
         Ranked by Average Hours per Visitor*
         May 2009
         Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
         Source: comScore World Metrix

          Country         Average Hours     Average Pages
                           per Visitor      per Visitor
    World-Wide                      3.7               525
    Russia                          6.6             1,307
    Brazil                          6.3             1,220
    Canada                          5.6               649
    Puerto Rico                     5.3               587
    Spain                           5.3               968
    Finland                         4.7               919
    United Kingdom                  4.6               487
    Germany                         4.5               793
    United States                   4.2               477
    Colombia                        4.1               473
    Mexico                          4.0               488
    Chile                           4.0               418
    Ireland                         3.8               462
    Turkey                          3.7               427
    Venezuela                       3.7               454
    France                          3.6               526
    Australia                       3.4               374
    New Zealand                     3.4               386
    Switzerland                     3.2               430
    Italy                           3.2               399

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

Vkontakte.ru is Russia's Largest Social Networking Site

Of the 31.9 million people who accessed the Internet in Russia in April, 18.9 million visited at least one social networking site, representing a reach of 59 percent of the total online population. The most popular of these sites was Russian-based Vkontakte.ru with 14.3 million visitors, followed by Odnoklassniki.ru (7.8 million visitors), Mail.ru - My World (6.3 million visitors) and Fotostrana.ru (1.6 million visitors). Facebook.com attracted 616,000 Russian visitors, up 277 percent versus year ago.

         A Selection of Leading Social Networking Sites
         Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)*
         May 2009
         Total Russia, Age 15+ Home & Work Locations
         Source: comScore World Metrix

          Property          Total Unique     % Reach of Total
                              Visitors           Online
                                (000)          Population
    Total Russian Internet
     Audience                      31,907                100%
    Social Networking              18,877                 59%
    Vkontakte.ru                   14,310                 45%
    Odnoklassniki.ru                7,750                 24%
    Mail.Ru - My World              6,321                 20%
    Fotostrana.ru                   1,624                  5%
    Privet.ru                         942                  3%
    Moikrug.ru                        839                  3%
    Facebook.com                      616                  2%
    Steamcommunity.com                433                  1%
    MySpace Sites                     371                  1%
    Vkrugudruzei.ru                   214                  1%

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

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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.

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