Social networking ‘more popular in France than UK’
- Added:
- Feb 10, 2010
Social networking is more popular in France than in the UK, but online shopping less so, according to new research from Experian Hitwise.
The study is the first from the online research firm’s new operations in France, found that Google.fr is the most visited website in the country, accounting for 1 in every 10 Internet visits.
Experian Hitwise is reporting on more than 75,000 websites across 100+ industries and over 1 million search terms, based on the anonymised and aggregated Internet activity of 90,000 French Internet users from all over the country.
Google.fr is the most visited website in France, accounting for 1 in every 10 Internet visits
During the week ending 30/01/10, Google France (www.google.fr) was the most visited website in France, picking up 10.38% of all French Internet visits - equivalent to 1 in every 10. Two other Google-owned properties also appeared in the list of the 10 most visited websites in France during the same week: YouTube (www.youtube.com) at number 4 and Google.com at number 7.
Facebook is the second most visited website in France, accounting for 6.83% of all French Internet visits during the week ending 30/01/10.
The site accounted for just under half of all French visits to social networks over the same period, picking up over twice as many visits as second placed YouTube.
Skyrock (www.skyrock.com) is the third most popular social network in France, and the eighth most popular website overall.
Windows Live Mail (mail.live.com, also known as Windows Live Hotmail) is the third most visited website in France and the most popular webmail service.
Orange France Webmail (webmail.orange.fr) is the next most popular webmail service and fifth most visited website overall, while Orange France (www.orange.fr) ranks sixth.
The list of the top 10 websites in France is completed by Leboncoin.fr, the most popular Shopping and Classifieds website, at number nine, and MSN France in tenth position.
Social networking is a more popular activity in France than in the UK, but online shopping less so
Search Engines are the most visited category of website in France, accounting for 14.27% of all French Internet visits during the week ending 30/01/10. 
Social networks and Forums rank second, picking up 12.85% of French Internet visits - more than the 10.61% the industry accounts for in the UK. Shopping and Classifieds websites, on the other hand, account for a higher percentage of Internet visits in the UK (8.74%) than in France (8.44%).
"France and the UK have very similar sized Internet populations, so it is interesting to compare the different ways in which the web is used in the two countries," commented Robin Goad, European Research Director at Experian Hitwise. "In France, more online time is spent on communication and entertainment than in the UK, with Entertainment websites and Webmail services also picking up a higher proportion of visits. On the other hand, people in the UK are more likely to use the Internet to make transactions and look for information. News and Media, Sports, Travel, and Education websites all account for a higher proportion of Internet visits in the UK than in France."
Experian Hitwise also operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil.
"We are delighted to continue the global expansion of Experian's Marketing Services products and services with the launch of Hitwise in France," said Jonathan Hulford-Funnel, Managing Director of Experian Marketing Services in EMEA. "From a digital marketing perspective, France has the second largest broadband population in Europe, and Experian Hitwise is now able to provide marketers with specific insights into consumer behaviour as well as competitors' marketing activities. This data is crucial to improving and measuring online marketing and complements our Experian CheetahMail e-mail marketing service in France."
The Hitwise France service will provide clients with data on website industry and category rankings, Clickstream traffic activity, search behaviour and keyword research. Clients also will have access to additional tools to create custom categories, search term portfolios and customized dashboards.
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