Google Sites Accounts for 9 of 10 Searches Conducted in Latin America

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Brazil Ranks as Fastest-Growing Market in the Region by Search Query Volume

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May 17, 2011, 03:38 ET

SANTIAGO, Chile, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest results from a study of the search market in Latin America based on data from the comScore qSearch service. The study found that in the past year searches in Latin America surged 21 percent to more than 18.5 billion queries in March 2011, with the typical searcher conducting 167 queries during the month. Google Sites held a strong lead as the top search destination, accounting for 90 percent of all searches conducted in the region.

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Latin Americans Conducted 18.5 Billion Searches in March

In March 2011, Latin Americans conducted a total of 18.5 billion searches, an increase of 21 percent from the previous year. This gain was driven primarily by a 14-percent increase in the number of unique searchers, as well as a 6-percent gain in the number of searches per searcher. Each of the six countries included in this study experienced growth in search query volume. Brazil, which accounted for the largest volume of search queries at nearly 6 billion, also had the strongest growth rate of 34 percent. Mexico ranked as the second largest search market with nearly 3.2 billion queries conducted in March 2011 (up 23 percent), followed by Colombia with almost 2.9 billion searches (up 28 percent).


Search Query Volume Growth in Latin America March 2011 vs. March 2010 *Total Latin America Internet Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch**
	Searches (MM)
	Mar-2010	Mar-2011	% Change
Latin America	15,293	18,528	21%
Brazil	4,462	5,969	34%
Mexico	2,588	3,171	23%
Colombia	2,232	2,866	28%
Argentina	1,814	2,186	21%
Chile	970	1,041	7%
Venezuela	375	493	31%
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

Google Sites Leads Search Market in Latin America

Analysis of the top search destinations in Latin America revealed that Google Sites captured the majority of the search market in Latin America with 90.5 percent market share. More than 16.7 billion searches were conducted on the property in March 2011, with the average searcher performing 153 queries during the month on Google Sites. Across each of the six markets studied, Colombia accounted for the highest share of searches at Google Sites at 92.2 percent, with Argentina accounting for the lowest share at 89.4 percent. Facebook.com ranked as the #2 search destination in Latin America with 525 million searches (2.8 percent share) followed by Microsoft Sites with 513 million searches (2.8 percent share).


*Top 10 Search Properties in Latin America by Search Query Volume March 2011 Total Latin America Internet Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch
	Searches (MM)	Share of Searches	Searches Per Searcher
Total Internet	18,528	100.0%	167.6
Google Sites	16,763	90.5%	153.7
Facebook.com	525	2.8%	11.3
Microsoft Sites	513	2.8%	10.0
Yahoo! Sites	198	1.1%	9.2
Ask Network	112	0.6%	5.3
Terra - Telefonica	109	0.6%	6.5
eBay	43	0.2%	15.2
Wikimedia Foundation Sites	35	0.2%	3.7
iG Sites	31	0.2%	5.4
UOL	26	0.1%	4.3
Search properties include all entities included in roll up, i.e. Google Sites includes searches at YouTube.com *Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

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SOURCE comScore, Inc.