Global internet audience crosses 1 billion
27 Jan 2009
The number of worldwide internet users passed the 1-billion mark for the first time in December, according to online researcher ComScore, which tracks global internet traffic.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41 per cent, followed by Europe- 28 per cent, North America 18 per cent, Latin-America 7 per cent share, and the Middle East & Africa 5 per cent.
China represented the largest online audience in the world in December 2008 with 180 million users, representing nearly 18 per cent of the total worldwide internet audience, followed by the US (16.2 per cent share), Japan (6.0 per cent share), Germany (3.7 per cent share) and the U.K. (3.6 per cent share).
ComScore CEO, Magid Abraham said, ''Surpassing 1 billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the internet, the second billion will be online before we know it, and the third billion will arrive even faster than that.''
Google was the most popular site in the world, which had 777.9 million visitors followed by Microsoft's sites, which had 647 million visitors and Yahoo sites, 563 million.
Chinese Internet audience for the first time outranked the US and had the largest internet audience, with 180 million Internet users in December or 18 per cent, followed by the US, with 163 million users, or a share of 16.2 per cent, while Japan had the third-largest online audience, with 60 million users, or 6 per cent, Germany came in fourth, with 3.7 per cent and the U.K was fifth, with 3.6 per cent.
Other countries trying to catch up with the Internet usage included countries like France with 34 million, India with 32.1 million, Russia with 29 million, Brazil with 27.7 million, South Korea with 27.3 million, Canada with 21.8 million and Italy with 20.8 million.
ComScore's data revealed that Facebook has become extremely popular and has grown by 127 per cent in the past year to 222 million visitors, making it as the top social networking site.
ComScore however said that the data excluded traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Total Worldwide Internet Audience: Regional Breakdown
| Region | Total Unique Visitors (000) | Share of Total Worldwide Internet Audience (%) |
| Worldwide | 1,007,730 | 100.0% |
| Asia Pacific | 416,281 | 41.3% |
| Europe | 282,651 | 28.0% |
| North America | 185,109 | 18.4% |
| Latin America | 74,906 | 7.4% |
| Middle East & Africa | 48,783 | 4.8% |
Top 15 Countries by Internet Audience
| Country | Total Unique Visitors (000) | Share of Total Worldwide Internet Audience (%) |
| Worldwide | 1,007,730 | 100.0% |
| China | 179,710 | 17.8% |
| United States | 163,300 | 16.2% |
| Japan | 59,993 | 6.0% |
| Germany | 36,992 | 3.7% |
| United Kingdom | 36,664 | 3.6% |
| France | 34,010 | 3.4% |
| India | 32,099 | 3.2% |
| Russia | 28,998 | 2.9% |
| Brazil | 27,688 | 2.7% |
| South Korea | 27,254 | 2.7% |
| Canada | 21,809 | 2.2% |
| Italy | 20,780 | 2.1% |
| Spain | 17,893 | 1.8% |
| Mexico | 12,486 | 1.2% |
| Netherlands | 11,812 | 1.2% |
Top 15 Worldwide Properties
| Property | Total Unique Visitors (000) | % Reach of Total Worldwide Internet Audience |
| Total Worldwide Internet Audience | 1,007,730 | 100.0% |
| Google Sites | 775,980 | 77.0% |
| Microsoft Sites | 646,915 | 64.2% |
| Yahoo! Sites | 562,571 | 55.8% |
| AOL LLC | 273,020 | 27.1% |
| Wikimedia Foundation Sites | 272,998 | 27.1% |
| eBay | 240,947 | 23.9% |
| Facebook.COM | 221,791 | 22.0% |
| Amazon Sites | 187,354 | 18.6% |
| CBS Corporation | 178,844 | 17.7% |
| Fox Interactive Media | 172,841 | 17.2% |
| Ask Network | 164,513 | 16.3% |
| Apple Inc. | 161,500 | 16.0% |
| Tencent Inc. | 158,617 | 15.7% |
| Baidu.com Inc. | 152,447 | 15.1% |
| Adobe Sites | 123,623 | 12.3% |