Local news destinations see significant global traffic: comScore

According to comScore, The Times of India, which ranked as the largest site in the newspaper category with nearly 7.9 million visitors in India, attracted 36.2 per cent of its global traffic from outside India in September.

A majority of the top local news destinations in India witness non-residents contribute a significant share of global visitors to the respective brands, states a recent report released by audience monitoring firm, comScore.

Citing examples, the report noted that The Times of India, which ranked as the largest site in the newspaper category with nearly 7.9 million visitors in India (age 15 years and older access from a home or work location), attracted 36.2 per cent of its global traffic from outside India in September.

With 31.6 per cent of its global visitor base accessing from outside the country, Oneindia reached more than 4.4 million visitors in India in September 2011. HT Media saw 28.1 per cent of visitation from outside of India.

The study also suggested that 20.1 per cent of India.com's global visitors were non-residents, and the largest local general news destination in India was NDTV. According to comScore, 38.2 per cent of NDTV's audience was represented by this segment of visitors. Meanwhile, the other sites, including portals in financial and sports categories, have also seen significant non-resident traffic drive their global audience reach.

Kedar Gavane, director, India, comScore, says in an official communiqué, "With many local sites attracting a significant portion of visitors from outside India, these visitors, who are very likely to be non-resident Indians, are an important segment for brands to consider in their digital strategies, and often represent very active online users."

And, therefore, to understand this important geographic distinction in audience composition is important for publishers to deliver relevant content, and for advertisers to reach their desired audiences.

Additionally, among the selected news sites, Mid-Day.com and DeccanChronicle.com displayed the largest percentage of visitors from outside India, with both drawing more than 45 per cent of their global audiences from outside the country.

Other local destinations also saw visitors from outside India contribute significantly to their global audiences. Portal IN.com saw more than half (50.4 per cent) of its worldwide audience come from outside India, while the largest banking site in India, ICICI Bank, saw 16.1 per cent of its audience in September visit from locations outside the country.

CricBuzz.com and CricTime.com saw non-resident traffic at 34.2 per cent and 46 per cent of their total global audience, while entertainment site BharatMovies.com had more than half (56.5 per cent) of its visitors access from countries other than India.