Kenny Lim
Nov 4, 2009

Search traffic leaps 33 per cent in Asia-Pacific

ASIA-PACIFIC - The region's internet users have raised their search activity considerably, with 33 per cent more searches made in the 12 months to September than in the same period a year earlier.

Search traffic leaps 33 per cent in Asia-Pacific
A total of 38.6 billion searches were made between September 2008 and September 2009, according to a new analysis by comScore. In September, there were an average of about 88 searches per person across the region.

Google ranked as the top search destination in APAC, commanding 44.1 per cent share, accumulating nearly 17 billion searches on its sites. Chinese giant Baidu followed with 8.2 billion searches (21.3 per cent share), while Yahoo grabbed third spot with 5.3 billion searches (13.8 per cent share).

Top 10 search properties in Asia-Pacific by number of searches:
  Searches (million)  Share of searches  Searches per user
Google 16,997 44.1% 58.5
Baidu 8,228 21.3% 44.5
Yahoo 5,340 13.8% 41.3
NHN 1,959 5.1% 80.5
Microsoft 1,093 2.8% 9.5
Lycos 997 2.6% 51.0
Alibaba.com    949 2.5% 15.6
Tencent 790 2.0% 8.6
Facebook 259 0.7% 8.0
Sohu.com 230 0.6% 8.9

Google was also the search market leader in six individual markets: Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Yahoo captured the majority share of searches in Hong Kong (58.9 per cent) and Taiwan (65.4 per cent).

Local search brands triumphed over multinational brands in China and South Korea, with Baidu claiming 63 per cent share of searches performed in China, and Naver's operator NHN Corporation capturing 49.3 per cent of queries in Korea.

Top search property by market:
Australia Google 83.4%
China Baidu 63.0%
Hong Kong Yahoo 58.9%
India Google 89.1%
Japan Google 47.5%
Malaysia Google 71.1%
New Zealand Google 80.5%
Singapore Google 72.3%
South Korea NHN Corporation 49.3%
Taiwan Yahoo 65.4%

“The competition between local and global brands to capture search market share around the world continues to be an ongoing battle,” said Will Hodgman, comScore's executive vice-president for Asia-Pacific. “As multinational brands continue to expand across borders, understanding the online behaviors and preferences of local audiences will be a central component to implementing successful digital marketing strategies that capitalise on this lucrative and growing market.”

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