One in four online minutes is spent on social networking sites in India: comScore

According to the study released by comScore, Google sites, Facebook and Yahoo! sites are among the top online destinations in the country.

Here is further proof of the growing importance of social networking among internet users. According to a study released by digital analytics provider comScore for the month of June, in India, one in four online minutes was spent on social networking sites. Among the top sites visited by users remained Google's, followed by Facebook and Yahoo! sites.

The findings of the study do not include visits from public access computers (such as internet cafes), mobile phones or Public Digital Assistants. These findings, among others, were presented via a complimentary, live webinar titled 'The Rise of India's Digital Consumer and What it Means for the Future' on August 21.

Social round the clock

The study revealed that social networking reigned as the top online activity in India, accounting for 25.2 per cent of all time spent online in June. This is an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous year, thereby showing the ever-increasing influence of social media on people's digital media consumption.

Entertainment sites follow social networking, accounting for 10 per cent of minutes (an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the previous year). Portals accounted for 8.8 per cent of total minutes.

Interestingly, time spent on e-mail dropped by 0.5 percentage points over the previous year, accounting for 8.6 per cent of total online minutes. Among other categories to have witnessed growth are retail sites, with online shopping gaining popularity.

Google supreme

Google sites reached out to 57.8 million people aged 15 or older accessing the internet from a home or work computer, making it the top online destination in India in June. Following Google was Facebook with 50.9 million visitors (83.4 per cent reach) and Yahoo! sites (65.5 per cent reach).

The study revealed that average minutes per visitor on Google sites, Facebook and Yahoo! sites were 155.3, 224.9 and 63.3, respectively. Facebook ranks the highest among the top 10 online destinations. Visitors spent 2.5 hours on Google sites, with YouTube accounting for a strong share of time spent on the property. Among local brands, Network18 led as the most engaging property, with visitors averaging 31.6 minutes during the month.

Other sites that feature on the list include Wikimedia Foundation sites, Network18 and Rediff.com.