Comscore 2012 Us Digital Future In Focus

U.S.

THE 2012 DIGITAL FUTURE IN FOCUS

Key Insights
Key Insightsfrom 2011 and What They Mean for the Coming Year Year
from 2011 and What They Mean for the Coming
February 2012

Introduction
Sparked by a wave of innovation in digital device hardware and
technology software platforms, accompanied by consumers’ rapidly
increasing digital consumption habits, 201 marked an exciting
1year for the digital media industry and signaled an even more
momentous year ahead. Amidst this constantly evolving landscape,
successful digital strategies require insights into not only the current
environment, but also into what trends will shape the future for
digital consumers.
This report examines how the prevailing trends in social media,
search, online video, digital advertising,mobile and e-commerce
define the current United States marketplace and what these trends
mean for the year ahead, as comScore helps bring the digital future
into focus.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION,
PLEASE CONTACT:

Sarah Radwanick
comScore, Inc.
+1 206 268 6310
press@comscore.com
Andrew Lipsman
comScore, Inc.
+1 312 775 6510
press@comscore.com
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Executive Summary
Top Web Destinations
Social Networking
Search
Online Video
Digital Advertising
Mobile
E-Commerce
Conclusion
About comScore
Methodology and Definitions

Executive Summary
FACEBOOK-LED SOCIAL MEDIA MARKET IS
REDEFINING COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AND
PHYSICAL WORLDS
Social networking continues to amass online usersand
capture an increasing share of their time, redefining how
people interact with their personal social circles and brands
in both the online and offline environments. Social Networking accounted for 16.6 percent of all online minutes at the
end of 2011 and is on track to surpass Portals as the most
engaging online activity in 2012. Facebook continues to lead
as the driving force behindthis shift in consumer behavior
accounting for the largest share of online minutes across the
entire web in 2011.
B ING GAINS GROUND IN SEARCH
Although Google maintains a strong lead in the U.S. search
market, the most notable story in search this year was Bing’s
positive growth trajectory. Bing closed out the year by
surpassing Yahoo! for the #2 position among core search
engines for thefirst time in its history, bolstered in part by
its social search partnership with Facebook implemented in
early 2011. While Google still owns two-thirds of the search
market, Bing has captured 15 percent of the market on its
own and is powering about that same percentage on behalf
of Yahoo!.

ONLINE VIDEO BOOM SIGNALS SEA CHANGE IN
VIDEO ECOSYSTEM
Online video viewing witnessed impressivegains across a
variety of measures in 2011, signaling a behavioral shift in
how Americans are consuming video content. The increasing
availability and adoption of long-form video content has
driven a dramatic increase in video viewing as consumers
exercise their freedom to watch available content however,
whenever and wherever they want. More than 100 million
Americans watched online videocontent on an average day
to close out 2011, representing a 43-percent increase
versus year ago. In addition to more daily viewers, the
number of video streams jumped 44 percent to 43.5 billion in
December 2011.
DIGITAL ADVERTISING ENTERS ERA OF
I NCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY AS BRAND
D OLLARS CONTINUE TO SHIFT ONLINE
A staggering 4.8 trillion display ad impressions were delivered
across theU.S. web in 2011 as brand advertisers continued
to shift dollars to the digital medium. This shift in ad dollars has
magnified the need for greater transparency and accountability
in ad delivery across the digital advertising ecosystem,
heralding in an era where digital campaign validation becomes
a necessity to push digital ad dollars to the next level.

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EXECUTIVE
S UMMARY...