Facebook ousts Orkut from top slot in India
Rohit Sharma
Social networking site Orkut finally gave away the crowning glory of the ‘highest number of users in India’ to Facebook. According to comScore, Inc., Facebook.com grabbed the number one ranking in the category for the first time in July with 20.9 million visitors, up 179 % versus year ago.
Pic source: www.dailyworldbuzz.com
“Though Facebook has tripled its audience in the past year to pace the growth for the category, several other social networking sites have posted their own sizeable gains.” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region, in comScore’s press release.
More than 33 million Internet users age 15 and older in India visited social networking sites in July, representing 84 % of the total Internet audience. India now ranks as the seventh largest market worldwide for social networking, after the U.S., China, Germany, Russian Federation, Brazil and the U.K. The total Indian social networking audience grew 43% in the past year, more than tripling the rate of growth of the total Internet audience in India.
Facebook.com posted an especially strong month in July, growing 12% versus June, to capture the top spot in the category with 20.9 million visitors. Orkut ranked second with 19.9 million visitors (up 16% vs. year ago). What’s interesting is to see a Bharatstudent.com taking over popular websites like Twitter and LinkedIn.
| Top Social Networking Sites in India July 2010 vs. July 2009 Total India – Age 15+, Home & Work Locations* Source: comScore Media Metrix |
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| India | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
| Jul-2009 | Jul-2010 | % Change | |
| Total Internet : Total Audience | 35,028 | 39,562 | 13 |
| Social Networking | 23,255 | 33,158 | 43 |
| Facebook.com | 7,472 | 20,873 | 179 |
| Orkut | 17,069 | 19,871 | 16 |
| Bharatstudent.com | 4,292 | 4,432 | 3 |
| Yahoo! Pulse | N/A | 3,507 | N/A |
| Twitter.com | 984 | 3,341 | 239 |
| LinkedIn.com | N/A | 3,267 | N/A |
| Zedge.net | 1,767 | 3,206 | 81 |
| Ibibo.com | 1,562 | 2,960 | 89 |
| Yahoo! Buzz | 542 | 1,807 | 233 |
| Shtyle.fm | 407 | 1,550 | 281 |
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
