Indian netizens on an average visit internet 25 times a month: Study

An average Indian internet user visited internet 25 times during May 2008 and was online for 28 minutes per visit, according to a study by US-based internet research firm comScore Networks. Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest internet users among all age segments, spending nearly 12 hours online per month, the study states.

According to comScore, Google Sites ranked as the top property in India with nearly 20 million visitors in May 2008, a 35 per cent increase versus year ago. The property grew on the strength of several Google-owned entities, including Google Search (up 38 per cent to 17.1 million visitors), social networking site Orkut (up 39 per cent to 9.3 million visitors), blog platform Blogger.com (up 102 per cent to 7.3 million visitors), and video site YouTube (up 131 per cent to 6.3 million visitors).

Yahoo sites ranked second with 18.7 million visitors (up 28 per cent), followed by Microsoft sites with 12 million (up 11 per cent). Indian portal Rediff.com ranked as the top local property with 9.2 million visitor (up 19 per cent), followed by government site NIC.in with nearly 6 million visitors (up 5 per cent).

“India truly represents one of the most promising emerging Internet markets, given both the size and technological sophistication of the population,” Jack Flanagan, executive vice president, comScore, has said. “While global Internet brands like Google and Yahoo! currently reign as the most visited Web properties in India, several local players also have strong positions in the market.”

Some of the fastest growing website categories during the past year included Maps (up 64 per cent), Sports (up 60 per cent), Entertainment - Movies (up 55 per cent), and Finance – News/Research (up 52 per cent), the comScore study titled ‘Internet usage in India’ reveals.