Internet Users Pass One Billion Mark, Says Study

Total global Internet audience (age 15 and older from home and work computers) has surpassed 1 billion visitors in December 2008, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41 percent, followed by Europe (28 percent share), North America (18 percent share), Latin-America (7 percent share), and the Middle East & Africa (5 percent share).

Total Worldwide Internet Audience: Regional Breakdown

Share of Total Worldwide Total Unique Internet Region Visitors*:

• 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 %

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

"Surpassing one billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet," said Magid Abraham, president and CEO, comScore Inc. "It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat. The second billion will be online before we know it, and the third billion will arrive even faster than that, until we have a truly global network of interconnected people and ideas that transcend borders and cultural boundaries."

Chinese Internet Audience Outranks U.S.

China represented the largest online audience in the world in December 2008 with 180 million Internet users, representing nearly 18 percent of the total worldwide Internet audience, followed by the U.S. (16.2 percent share), Japan (6.0 percent share), Germany (3.7 percent share) and the U.K. (3.6 percent share).

Google Sites Ranks as Top Internet Property Worldwide

The most popular property in the world in December was Google Sites, with 777.9 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites (647.9 million visitors), Yahoo! Sites (562.6 million visitors). Facebook.com, which has grown a dramatic 127-percent in the past year to 222 million visitors, now ranks as the top social networking site worldwide and the seventh most popular property in the world.