With 19.3 million Internet users, Brazil is ranked number 1 in the websphere by comScore, a company that measure the digital world. The new numbers were released today and they offer an overview of Internet usage in Latin America, a region that is home to nearly 62 million of the 850 million worldwide Internet users.
The data are for people age 15 and older using the Internet at home and work locations.
In April, Brazil had the largest Internet audience in Latin America with more than 19 million Internet users. Brazilians also exhibited heavy engagement, with the average Internet user spending 30.2 hours online during the month, substantially higher than the Latin American (28.6 hours) and worldwide (25.7 hours) averages.
Argentina (32.4 hours) and Venezuela (31.5 hours) also exhibited heavy engagement. Despite their heavy engagement while online, Latin Americans are less frequent Internet users, with most countries falling below the worldwide average for usage days per month.
"The Latin American Internet audience has grown significantly during the past year and at a substantially faster rate than more established Internet markets like North America and Europe," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president.
"The high engagement among Latin American Internet users, combined with this rapidly expanding audience, represents a sizable market opportunity for Internet companies choosing to focus their efforts on this region."
Overview of Latin American Internet Usage by Country – April 2008
Total Latin America, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*
Source: comScore World Metrix
 Â
 Â
  Average        Average
Markets         Total Unique   Usage Days      Hours per
                Visitors (000)   per Visitor   Visitor
Worldwide        849,580          17.1            25.7
Latin America     61,610          16.3            28.6
Brazil            19,320          16.0            30.2
Mexico            11,773          14.7            23.7
Argentina          8,440          17.8            32.4
Chile              5,320          17.4            28.4
Colombia           3,284          16.4            27.9
Venezuela          1,556          17.2            31.5
Puerto Rico          854          15.0            19.7
*Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs.
Google on Top
Google sites ranked as the top property in Latin America with more than 55 million visitors in April, (approximately 90% of the total Latin American audience), an increase of 22% versus the same month last year. The property has been bolstered by the growth of several Google-owned entities, including YouTube.com (up 81% to 30.6 million visitors), Blogger.com (up 65% to 27.8 million visitors) and Orkut (up 31% to 15.2 million visitors).
Top 25 Properties by Number of Latin American Unique Visitors – April 2008
Total Latin America, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*
Source: comScore World Metrix
Top 25 Properties   Total Unique
      Visitors (000)
Total Internet : Total Audience                      61,610
Google Sites                                         55,290
Microsoft Sites                                      54,914
Yahoo! Sites                                         38,621
MercadoLibre                                         27,534
Wikipedia Sites                                      26,347
Terra Networks                                       25,873
UOL Sites                                            16,711
Orange Sites                                         15,241
WordPress                                            14,570
HI5.COMÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 12,831
Groupe Hi-Media                                      12,242
Grupo Brasil Telecom                                 12,103
Organizações Globo                                   11,851
Fox Interactive Media                                11,793
AOL LLCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11,122
Grupo Intercom                                       10,661
Ask Network                                           8,967
Gruppo DADAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8,956
Adobe Sites                                           8,854
BuscaPé Inc.                                          8,805
Batanga                                               8,797
MONOGRAFIAS.COMÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8,297
Apple Inc.                                            7,821
eBay                                                  7,725
FACEBOOK.COMÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7,711
*Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs.
Heavy Communication
Latin Americans spend the most time online – nearly 29 hours per month on average – compared to other worldwide regions. Usage of various online communication media drives much of their online engagement.
Users spend a significant portion of their time each month on instant messengers (9.2 hours per visitor), social networking sites (5.9 hours per visitor), and e-mail (4.1 hours per visitor).Â
Portals, which aggregate a variety of content across a network of sites, ranked as the most engaging site category, with 13.4 hours per visitor.
Highest Engagement Categories Among Latin American Internet Users – April 2008
Total Latin America, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Site Category Average Hours   Average Minutes
       per Visitor     per Usage Day
Total LatAm Internet Audience   Â
   28.6            105.3
Portals                13.4             35.8
Instant Messengers      9.2             31.6
Social Networking       5.9             25.9
e-mail                  4.1             22.1
Entertainment           2.2             10.0
Games                   1.7             13.0
Photos                  1.7             16.0
Multimedia              1.4             10.2
Kids                    1.2             18.4
Online Gaming           1.1             12.2