Tech Shout!

comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world has released a comprehensive review of Internet behavior. The study called ‘World Metrix’ covers 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The comScore World Metrix study revealed that in May 2007 there were almost 284 million people aged 15 or older who accessed the Internet from either a home or work computer. This number represents 10% of Asia-Pacific’s population aged 15 years or older.

The study also found out that the average person in Asia-Pacific logged on to the Internet on 13.8 days in the month and spent around 20.2 hours viewing 2171 pages.

When compared with the global averages of 17.1 usage days per month, 25.2 hours per month and 2519 pages monthly, it indicated that the Asia-Pacific region’s PC-based Internet usage is a bit lower than the rest of the world.

Next up in the World Metrix study was a comparison in Internet usage across 10 Asia-Pacific countries using a consistent panel-based measurement for harmonized cross-country comparisons.

The findings of comScore’s World Metrix study are as follows:

South Korea boasts the greatest rate of Internet usage, with 65 percent of its population using the Internet in May, followed by Australia (62 percent), New Zealand (60 percent) and Hong Kong (59 percent). India has the lowest penetration at just 3 percent.

China clearly has the largest online population with 91.5 million people, but this translates to a penetration of only 9 percent of the country’s population. Japan has 53.7 million users (49 percent penetration) and South Korea 26.3 million (65 percent penetration). Combined, these 3 countries account for 60 percent of the region’s Internet population.

South Korea has the most active online population, using the Internet an average of 17.4 days per person in May, and dedicating 31.2 hours to viewing 4,546 pages during the month - twice as many pages as the regional average of 2,171 pages per user.

New Zealanders constitute the smallest online population in the region (1,949 million people) but are online 16.4 days per month, versus the regional average of 13.8 days.

Yahoo! sites are the most popular in the region, ranking in the top three positions in seven out of the ten countries studied.

According to Bob Ivins, executive vice president of comScore, “We all know that the Asia-Pacific region is large and that Internet usage is growing rapidly. What is fascinating about this study is that it allows us to compare Internet usage across countries using a consistent measurement methodology and to then determine where PC-based Internet engagement is most developed. We are looking forward to providing additional insight into the online dynamics of this important region in the future.”