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• 2009
• Facebook Visits Increased 194 Percent in Past Year

Facebook Visits Increased 194 Percent in Past Year

U.S. visits to social networking sites have increased 62 percent year over year;
visits from 55 and older age group have increased 77 percent

New York, N.Y., Oct. 9, 2009 - Experian^® Hitwise^® announced today that Facebook accounted for 58.59 percent of all U.S. visits among a custom category of 155 social networking Web sites in September 2009. The 58 percent was the highest among all social networking sites sites, as U.S. visits to Facebook increased 194 percent in September 2009 compared with September 2008. MySpace received the second-highest market share of U.S. visits for the month, with 30 percent.

Tagged received 2.38 percent of visits in September 2009, the third-largest amount. Twitter had the largest percentage gain in market share of visits among the top five visited Web sites, increasing 1170 percent compared with September 2008. U.S. visits to social networking Web sites increased 62 percent in September 2009 versus September 2008 among the custom category of 155 of the leading social networking sites.

MySpace tops in average time spent
MySpace had the highest average time spent among the top five most visited social networking Web sites, with 25 minutes and 56 seconds - representing a decrease of 12 percent compared with September 2008 Facebook experienced the largest growth in average time spent among the top five sites, increasing 23 percent in September 2009 to 23 minutes. Tagged saw an increase of 8 percent in time spent on its sites. Overall time spent on social networking Web sites decreased 20 percent in September 2009 versus September 2008.

Older users continue showing up on Facebook and social networking sites
Looking at the demographic breakdown of visitors to MySpace and Facebook, users between the ages of 18 and 34 still lead, as 32.27 percent and 26.96 percent of U.S. visits, respectively, came from those combined age groups in September 2009. This represents a 13 percent decline for MySpace and a 10 percent increase for Facebook in terms of year-over-year percentages. For Facebook, visitors who are 55 and older increased 108 percent in September 2009 compared with September 2008, while visitors from that age group to MySpace have increased 26 percent.

Overall U.S. visits to social networking Web sites from users who are 55 and older have increased 77 percent year over year. Visits from users 18 to 24 to social networking sites have decreased 33 percent year over year.

About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.

Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), http://www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.

For up-to-date analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Research Blog and Hitwise Data Center.

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 65 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2009, was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil. 

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.