THE TOP SITES IN 9 LATAM COUNTRIES: What You Need to Know

In which four Latin American countries does LinkedIn make the top 10 list? Which countries have a particularly large number of local players among the leading sites? And what country has no less than three financial institutions among its top 10 players? Find out below as we analyze the September ComScore rankings in nine Latin American countries. (Check out the rankings below!)

As expected, Google continues to lead the lists of the 10 most-visited sites in different Latin American countries, according to comScore in September 2015. Facebook and Microsoft found themselves in second and third place, respectively. With a total of 65,783,000 users, almost three-times more than in Mexico, Brazil is the country with the largest number of Internet users in Latin America.

In the majority of the countries that comScore covered for the September 2015 survey (Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, México, Perú, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela), one thing doesn’t change: Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo are all in the top four positions on the lists of the 10 most-visited sites, with a few exceptions.

Another constant is the presence of LinkedIn in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. This is an interesting statistic, and the fact that the professional network is present in the ranking of 4 of the 10 countries analyzed reveals that in these countries, there is a notable interest in networking in professional activities – even more so if we keep in mind that Twitter, which has very high traffic, doesn’t even appear in the rankings.

Latin America – The “Big Four” Lead Overall

COMMENT: Google leads the ranking of the 10 most-visited sites in Latin America with a market share of 23.6%. Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo, which hold the second, third and fourth places, respectively, hold a total of 50.3% of the market share. As an observation, it is interesting to note the presence of R7Portal and Globo on the list of the 10 most-visited sites in Latin America. The presence of Mercadolibre is also noteworthy, not only because it is on the general LatAm ranking, but also because it is in sixth place! This is a clear indicator of a certain level of maturity in the region with respect to electronic commerce (which is no small feat, considering the cultural resistance to online shopping in the region).

Argentina: Local News Sites are Big

COMMENT: In the case of Argentina, Grupo Clarin takes the fourth place away from Microsoft, which shows that the country continues to choose traditional media when looking for news and general information. Google leads the ranking with a market share of 17.57%, while Facebook, Yahoo and Grupo Clarin, all together, hold 39.65% of the market share. Along with Grupo Clarin, we see other traditional media like La Nacion and Infobae on the list, which indicate that Argentina has a particular tendency to consume informative media. On the other hand, Taringa‘s presence on the list is noteworthy, because its content is generated by users. Here we see a contrast between more “serious” and “fun” news.

Brazil: Many Local Players

COMMENT: In Brazil, UOL returns to  the fourth place and takes Yahoo to seventh place, which also occurred in the ranking of unique users from July of this year. Google keeps the first spot with a total market share of 14.92%. Facebook, Microsoft and UOL, together, hold 35.77% of Brazil’s market.

Chile: LinkedIn Lovers

COMMENTS: In the trans-Andean country, Google continues to lead the ranking with a market share of 19.5%. The other three giants Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo, all together, hold 42.91% of the market share. Grupo Copesa, local player holding magazines, newspapers and radio stations, was able to reach fifth place. The presence of LinkedIn in the Chilean ranking is notable if we remember that the presence of the Internet is much smaller there than it is in Argentina and Brazil (in fact, LinkedIn doesn’t appear on these countries top-ten lists). This may indicate a strong interest in professional development from the Chileans.

Colombia: El Tiempo Enters the Top 10

COMMENTS: Wikipedia, which was in fourth place in July’s rankings, is ranked fifth in September 2015. Google leads with a market share of 20.8%, and Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo (which is now in fourth place) hold a total of 25.6% of the market share of the 10 properties. El Tiempo Casa Editorial and the digital portal ICCK Net S. A entered the list as local players.

Mexico: Government Is in the Top 6!

COMMENTS: Google leads with 20.54% of the market share of the ten properties in Mexico. Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo share 46.51% of the market share. Like in Colombia, Wikipedia holds the fifth place. Local player Gobierno de la República achieves a remarkable sixth position.

Peru: Three Local Publishers Among Top 10

Notes:  In first place, Google obtained 18.68% of the market share of the top 10 properties, and Facebook, Microsoft y Grupo El Comercio obtained 40,29% of the total.  As a local player, Grupo El Comercio was notable, as it took Yahoo out of its “typical” fourth place.

Puerto Rico: Microsoft, Amazon and Apple Come Out Strong

COMMENT: Other players that don’t appear on the top  10 lists of other countries, like Grupo Ferre Rangel, Amazon sites, Apple Inc. and Dropbox Sites. Google leads with 25.86% of the total, and Microsoft (which in this case, holds second place and knocks Facebook down a spot), Facebook y Yahoo hold 40.81% of the total market.

Uruguay: Clarin Makes the List in a “Foreign” Country

COMMENTS: It is interesting to note that Mercadolibre continues in fourth place, just as in July 2015. Facebook, Microsoft and Mercado Libre lead with almost 41.13% and Google, in first place, holds 19.79% of the total market. The presence of Clarin is noteworthy too, as an Argentine media outlet in a foreign country.

Venezuela: Strong Financial Institutions and Social Media Properties

COMMENTS: Information related to banking is notably present on Venezuela’s list, as 3 of the 10 properties in the ranking are banks: Banco de Venezuela, Grupo Santander and Banesco Banco Universal.  Just like in Uruguay, Facebook, Microsoft and Mercadolibre lead (interesting that an electronic commerce company is so popular in a country with significant conflict in internal/external commerce) with 40.7% of the total market share; and Google is in first place with 23.28%.  Just like the case of Mercadolibre, it is noteworthy that Twitter is so popular in Venezuela. Venezuelans clearly feel strongly about communicating in the open, not only through Facebook but also on Twitter, as the rankings demonstrate. This is not a minor factor, considering the political reality of the country today.