Australians’ spent nearly 21.9% of their online time on social networking in December 2010, an increase of 5.3 percentage points compared to same period previous year, according to a comScore report.
The report revealed that portals accounted for 19.7%, down nearly 10 percentage points from the previous year, while Instant Messengers accounted for 11.6% of time, down 7.7 percentage points, as both categories lost share to Social Networking throughout the year.
However, entertainment which accounted for 9.1% of time in 2009, increased 2 percentage points to 11.1% in December 2010.
Microsoft Sites led as the most-visited Internet property in Australia, followed by Google Sites and Facebook.com.
In the category of top sites by total minutes spent, Facebook stood first followed by Microsoft Sites and Google Sites.
Further, more Australians visited retail sites compared to last year, outpacing increases in the global average with Amazon and Apple registering as the most-visited retail destinations.
According to the report, 3 out of 4 online users in Australia watched online video in December 2010, with an average viewer watching more than 7 hours of video during the month.
Nearly 12 million Australians conducted an online search query in December, with an average searcher performing 115 queries.
The report revealed that Google Sites accounted for 80% of searches in December.
comScore Asia Pacific region executive vice-president Will Hodgman said 2010 was dynamic year for the digital media industry in Australia as consumers are turning to the Internet with increasing frequency for an array of activities including entertainment, commerce, news & information and communication, as digital media becomes embedded in the daily lives of Australians.
"Look for 2011 to be another year of continued innovation and increased competition as brands vie for consumers’ attention in this rapidly fragmenting digital environment," Hodgman said.
