Mexico's Online Population Soars 20 Percent in Past Year

MEXICO CITY, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report on Internet growth in Mexico based on data from its comScore Media Metrix service. The report found that in March there were 15.5 million home and work Internet users age 15 and older in Mexico, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year, making it one of the fastest-growing markets. Microsoft Sites ranked as the top online property in Mexico reaching more than 90 percent of the online population, followed by Google Sites, Yahoo! Sites and Facebook.

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"With more than 15 million Internet users in Mexico and growing fast, advertisers are increasingly turning to the digital medium to reach their desired audiences with increased sophistication and efficiency," said Ivan Marchant, comScore Country Manager for Mexico. "The ability to target audiences across a variety of dimensions including demographics and behaviors is vital to the success of digital campaigns. comScore's growing presence in Mexico reflects the increasing importance of the digital medium to consumers' lives in this market."

Internet Usage Soars in Mexico as Microsoft Sites Grabs Top Position in Market

In the past year, Internet usage in Mexico has grown considerably across nearly all measures. The total number of visitors has grown 20 percent to 15.5 million while visitor engagement has surged. In March, the average Internet visitor in Mexico spent 28 hours online (up 7.5 percent), consumed 1,898 pages of content (up 18 percent) and went online 49 times during the month (up 18.6 percent).

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

Among users age 15+, Microsoft Sites ranked as the top online property in Mexico with 14.3 million visitors, up 29 percent from the previous year, followed by Google Sites with 14.2 million visitors, which grew 32 percent. Yahoo! Sites grabbed the #3 spot with 9 million visitors (up 23 percent), followed by Facebook.com with 8.7 million visitors, more than triple the number of visitors from the previous year, as the social networking site solidified its popularity in the market. Online properties native to Latin America including Mercado Libre (5 million visitors), Batanga (nearly 5 million visitors), and Taringa.net (4.7 million visitors) also ranked among the top ten.

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

Agencies Voice Support for comScore Services

With insight into audiences' online behavior so critical to the effective planning and execution of digital media campaigns, agencies across Mexico are increasingly turning to comScore to help navigate this dynamic and rapidly emerging environment:

"For an agency like Wunderman, that is focused on strategy and effectiveness, comScore is a solid starting point to establish an effective and profitable dialog with consumers," said Adrian Bravo, director general of Wunderman Mexico. "Having access to behavioral data and characteristics of actual Internet users helps us validate and optimize our strategies and continue delivering results that exceed our clients' expectations." 

"An interactive and effective digital strategy is not possible without a deep knowledge about how Internet consumers use the Web," said Martin Aceves, CEO of Mediagency and its interactive branch, MAInteractive. "This is the foundation for generating digital strategies that allow us to build relevant brand relationships into the target users' digital ecosystem. To achieve this, it is critical to have systematic and professional information to create this knowledge. comScore data allows us to satisfy this requirement and is an essential part of our group of tools to provide digital solutions to the brands that we manage."

"Using comScore's services, we can answer questions about the behavior of certain Internet consumer segments, helping us to plan in a more efficient and effective way," said Guillermo Abud from Starcom Mediavest Group Latinamerica.

About comScore

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.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.