Google the winner in Asia-Pacific region

Google sites led as the most-visited property in the region reaching 55% of the online population, while Tencent led in engagement with visitors averaging 6.5 hours at the property during the month. The report also examined the top destinations across 13 individual countries in the Asia-Pacific region, revealing various brand preference across markets. These and other relevant findings will be presented in the comScore live complimentary webinar, State of the Internet with a Focus on Asia Pacific on Tuesday, July 13. Details on the webinar and registration can be found below.

"Home to nearly half of the world's online population, the Asia-Pacific region represents a wealth of opportunity for both local and global brands in the digital media space," said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. "With an average Internet user in the region spending nearly 17 hours a month online, brands not currently using this channel are missing a significant opportunity to reach and engage audiences. For most brands, having an online presence is no longer optional, it's a marketing necessity."

Google sites tops list as most-visited property in Asia-Pacific

In May 2010, Google sites ranked as the most-visited property in the Asia-Pacific region, reaching 270 million unique visitors during the month, followed by Microsoft Sites with 218.5 million visitors and Yahoo! Sites with 205 million visitors. Baidu.com Inc. and Tencent Inc. secured the fourth and fifth most-visited positions with 177 million visitors and 174 million visitors, respectively.

In terms of engagement among the top 20 most-visited properties, Tencent Inc. ranked as the most-engaging property with visitors averaging 6.5 hours on the site during the month, consuming 716 pages of content and visiting the property an average of 39 times. Facebook.com also witnessed strong engagement, with visitors spending 3.5 hours on the social networking site and visiting more than 21 times throughout the month.

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

Top destinations vary across markets

An analysis of the most visited Internet properties in each of the 13 individual Asia-Pacific markets revealed differing brand preferences across countries. Google sites led as the most-visited property in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, while Yahoo! Sites attracted the most visitors in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. Microsoft Sites led the market in Australia reaching 93% of online users. Local entities topped the list in China and South Korea, with Tencent Inc. and NHN Corporation reaching the largest percentage of Internet users. In the Philippines, Facebook.com reigned as the most-visited destination reaching 93% of online users, the highest penetration of any global market for the social networking site.

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