Social Networking Accounts for One Third of All Time Spent Online in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest report on Internet usage in Malaysia including insights into the top online destinations, content categories and video viewing behaviors. The report found that Social Networking accounted for one third of all time spent online in Malaysia in August 2011, ranking as the top online activity for the market. The report also found that online video viewing continues to grow in Malaysia with the viewing audience climbing 8 percent in the past year, while average viewing minutes increased 19 percent, representing an additional hour of monthly viewing time.

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"Social networking has become the central activity in Malaysians' digital lives, accounting for 1 in every 3 minutes spent online," said Joe Nguyen, comScore vice president for Southeast Asia. "Given its importance today, brands and marketers need to ensure that social media is addressed in their digital strategies – whether that means having a dedicated social media plan or simply monitoring consumer sentiment towards your brand."

Mudah.my, Media Prima Group and Maybank Group among Top Properties

In August, more than 11 million people age 15 and older accessed the Internet from a home or work location in Malaysia. Among this audience, 92.4 percent visited Google Sites, which ranked as the top online property for the market with 10.4 million visitors. Facebook.com ranked as the second most-visited property with nearly 9.9 million visitors, up 15 percent in the past year, as the social networking giant continues to attract more users.

Among local properties, classifieds destination Mudah.my ranked as the most visited with 2.5 million visitors in August. Media Prima Group, which includes Hmetro.com.my (Harian Metro), Bharian.com.my (Berita Harian), Tonton.com.my and others, reached 2.2 million visitors. Maybank Group drew nearly 1.9 million visitors in August 2011, growing 20 percent from the previous year, as Malaysians continue to adopt online banking.

Social Networking Tops List as Most Engaging Online Activity

An analysis of how Internet users are spending their time found that Social Networking led as the most-engaging content category in Malaysia. In the past year, Social Networking has increased 5 percentage points to 32.1 percent of all time spent online as it becomes increasingly important in people's daily lives and to digital marketing strategies.

A critical component of brands' social marketing strategies is leveraging Facebook brand fan pages to reach fans and friends of fans with social media impressions. An analysis using comScore Social Essentials, comScore's social measurement product, found that AirAsia and My.McDonalds managed to double the reach of Facebook brand impressions by reaching friends of fans. These findings highlight the importance of leveraging brands' fan bases to extend the reach of their brands and deliver impressions at scale and without additional marketing expense.

Other top categories by share of time spent online included Entertainment (11.5 percent) and Portals, (11.0 percent). Instant Messengers and Email represented 5.3 percent and 4.2 percent of total minutes, respectively.

YouTube Accounts for 67 Percent of All Videos Viewed in Malaysia

Online video viewing continues to be a growing activity in Malaysia. The total online video viewing audience grew to nearly 9.3 million viewers in August 2011, up 8 percent from the previous year. Growth in online video engagement was even more pronounced, as average minutes per viewer increased 19 percent to 6.2 hours in August 2011.  

Google Sites ranked as the top video property in Malaysia with 8.8 million viewers and 457 million videos during August 2011 driven largely by YouTube.com, which accounted for 99 percent of viewers and videos to the Google Sites property. Facebook.com ranked second with 4.1 million viewers watching a total of 30.5 million videos during the month, while VEVO saw nearly 3 million viewers watch 26.5 million videos ranking as the third largest online video property in Malaysia.

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SOURCE comScore, Inc.