comScore Releases the "2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus" Report

RESTON, Va., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report. This annual report examines how the prevailing trends in social media, search, online video, digital advertising, mobile and e-commerce are defining the current marketplace and what these trends mean for the year ahead.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)

"2012 promises to be an exciting year for the digital media industry as the explosion of available content and proliferation of web-enabled devices drive the evolution of the digital consumer, creating new opportunities and challenges for the entire digital ecosystem," said Linda Abraham, comScore CMO and EVP of Global Product Development. "In order to be successful in this new paradigm, digital marketers must understand the key trends shaping the current marketplace and what that means for the future of their businesses."

To download a complimentary copy of 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/2012USDigitalFutureinFocus

Key insights from the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus include:

Facebook-Led Social Media Market is Redefining Communication in the Digital and Physical Worlds

    --  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
        behind this shift in consumer behavior, accounting for the largest share
        of online minutes across the entire web in 2011.

Bing Gains Ground in Search

    --  Although Google maintains a strong lead in the U.S. search market, one
        of the most notable stories in search in 2011 was Bing's positive growth
        trajectory. Bing closed out the year by surpassing Yahoo! for the #2
        position among core search engines for the first time in its history,
        bolstered in part by its social search partnership with Facebook
        implemented in early 2011.

Online Video Boom Signals Sea Change in Video Ecosystem

    --  Online video viewing witnessed impressive gains across a variety of
        measures in 2011, signaling a behavioral shift in how Americans are
        consuming video content. More than 100 million Americans watched online
        video content on an average day to close out 2011, representing a
        43-percent increase versus year ago.

Digital Advertising Enters Era of Increased Accountability as Brand Dollars Continue to Shift Online

    --  A staggering 4.8 trillion display ad impressions were delivered across
        the U.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.

Smartphone and Tablets Fuel the Rise of the Digital Omnivore

    --  The rise of smartphones and tablets has drastically altered consumers'
        digital media consumption. In 2011, the majority of all mobile phone
        owners consumed mobile media on their device, marking an important
        milestone in the evolution of mobile from primarily a communication
        device to also a content consumption tool. At the end of the year, more
        than 8 percent of all digital traffic was consumed beyond the 'classic
        web' via devices such as smartphones and tablets.

E-Commerce is Back and Better Than Ever

    --  Despite the backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, 2011 was a
        strong year for retail e-commerce. Throughout the year, growth rates
        versus the prior year remained in double-digits to significantly outpace
        growth at brick-and-mortar retail. Total U.S. retail and travel-related
        e-commerce reached $256 billion in 2011, up 12 percent from 2010.