Research: Top Online Latin American Classifieds Sites

comScore released the ranking for  the Top Online Classified Sites in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico for January 2010.  OLX posted exceptional growth to take the  lead in the classifieds category in the three markets.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), released a report on the top online classifieds sites in Brazil for January 2010. The data showed that OnLine eXchange (OLX) led this fast-growing category, which now reaches more than 30 percent of Brazilian Internet users in a given month.

“Online classifieds is emerging as a high-growth sector of the online landscape in Brazil,” said Alex Banks, comScore’s managing director of Brazil. “OLX has taken a strong position in the market, but there are several other competitors in this space that are experiencing a strong upward trajectory of their own. It will be interesting to see how these sites compete for different consumer segments as the Internet audience in Brazil continues its exciting growth in 2010.”

In Mexico OLX leads the category with a 164% growth versus January 2009, follow by Mundoanuncio with a growth rate of 174%.  In Argentina the map is not different at all: OLX is the number one Classified Site with 85% growth.

Top Online Classifieds Sites

In January, nearly 10.7 million Brazilians age 15 and older visited classifieds sites from home and work locations, up 53 percent versus last year, nearly triple the growth rate of the Brazilian online population. OLX led the category with 5.7 million visitors, up 137 percent in the past year, followed by QuéBarato with 4.1 million visitors (up 22 percent) and Viva street Classifieds with nearly 2 million visitors (up 74 percent).

*Due to comScore dictionary procedures, UOL’s Toda Oferta was excluded from this analysis. The release will be updated in April 2010.

Demographic Profile of Visitors to Online Classifieds Category

A demographic profile of visitors to the online classifieds category revealed skews towards men between the ages of 25-44 (who consume approximately 20 percent more classifieds content than the average Brazilian Internet user), and females between the ages of 25-34 (who consume 23 percent more than average).

“These demographic tendencies may reflect a higher rate of online classifieds usage among deal-seeking young families,” suggested Mr. Banks.

*Composition Index Page Views = % of Classifieds Page Views / % of Total Internet Page Views x 100; Index of 100 indicates average representation.