comScore Releases European Engagement and Top Web Properties Rankings for April 2011

*European Online Travel Industry Shows 11 Percent Growth in the Past Year*

LONDON, UK, June 1, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe, showing 365.3 million unique visitors went online in April 2011 for an average of 24.2 hours per person. This study draws its analysis from comScore’s research panel, which shows internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated under the European region and provides individual reports on 18 markets. Among the 18 markets, the Netherlands showed the highest average engagement at 31.3 hours per person, 30 percent higher than the collective European average.

Top Web Properties in Europe
Google Sites ranked as the top European web property in April, attracting 329.8 million unique visitors and reaching 90.3 percent of the total European Internet audience. Microsoft Sites ranked second with 269.3 million visitors (73.7 percent reach), followed by Facebook.com in third place with 236.9 million visitors (64.9 percent reach). Among the top properties for April, the biggest gains were seen by VEVO (up 3 percent) and Facebook.com (up 1 percent).

Social networks continued to drive engagement among Europeans, with Russian social network VKontakte exhibiting the highest average engagement among the top 30 properties. In April, visitors spent an average of 494.9 minutes or 8.2 hours on the site, representing a significant 22 percent increase from the previous month. Russian Mail.ru Group ranked second at 293.9 minutes or 4.9 hours, followed by Facebook.com with an average of 283.6 minutes or 4.7 hours.

Despite VKontakte’s lead in engagement, Facebook.com continued to account for the highest number of page views for April with 115.5 billion page views (up 5 percent), representing 12.8 percent of all pages viewed that month.

Spotlight: Growth of the Online Travel Industry in Europe
In April 2011, the number of European visitors to the Travel category grew 11 percent in the past year. Travel properties, which include online travel agents, destination information sites, and transportation and accommodation sites, now penetrate 44.0 percent of the European internet audience, a 5percentage point increase. The U.K. continues to lead European markets in Travel category penetration at 66.5 percent, up 8percentage points from a year ago. Ireland and Spain show similarly high penetration rates, with 58.7 percent reach and 57.3 percent reach, respectively. Although Russia currently has the lowest penetration rate for Travel properties among the eighteen markets at 27.8 percent, it showed the highest growth in unique visitors over the past year with a 41 percent increase.

Expedia Inc., which includes TripAdvisor Sites, Expedia Sites, and Hotels.com Sites, attracted the most unique visitors in April 2011 with 21.7 million. Priceline.com Inc. followed with 16.4 million unique visitors, up 10 percent versus last year – the highest growth rate among the top Travel properties in Europe. Priceline’s sizeable audience was fueled in large part by hotel reservation site Booking.com, which attracted 15.8 million visitors. Groupe SNCF (French National Railway Corporation) was the third most heavily visited property in April with 9.3 million visitors.

comScore to Speak at Emerce eTravel
comScore VP Tsjerk Kooistra will be speaking at Emerce eTravel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on June 9, 2011. Mr. Kooistra will provide insights into the state of the online travel industry and explain the importance of web analytics, effective campaign management, and customer engagement measurement for travel retailers seeking to capitalize on the growth in this industry. If you are planning on attending and would like to arrange an interview with Mr. Kooistra, please contact Helene Azevedo at worldpress@comscore.com.

*Source: comScore