Intermittent users drive up Facebooks India numbers

Website to focus on users in India,Brazil,Germany,Russia through user acquisitions,mobile apps

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Indias slow roll-out of 3G services is posing a conundrum for Facebook Inc. While the country is the second fastest market in terms of the growth in the active users logging in at least once a month on the social networking website,India does not figure among the top markets for daily users. The number of daily active user are driven by increased mobile usage in key growth markets such as Brazil,Canada,Germany,Mexico,the UK and the US.

With the roll-out of 3G services 8211; or third generation mobile applications 8211; still in a relatively nascent stage,India is expected to trail in the list of the daily usage markets,even as the website has reported that it intends to expand its user base in such markets by enhancing its products,including mobile apps,to make Facebook more accessible.

In its regulatory filing before the US Securities and Exchange Commission,Facebook has noted that as on December 31,2011,it had 845 million monthly active users MAUs,an increase of 39 per cent over 12 months,with users in Brazil and India driving up the numbers. The site had 37 million active users in Brazil as on December 31,2011,an increase of 268 per cent from the previous year,and 46 million in India,an increase of 132 per cent during the twelve month period. Over the same period,the website clocked a 16 per cent increase at 161 million monthly active users in the United States.

When it comes to daily active users DAUs defined as a registered user who logged in and visited Facebook through the website or a mobile device,or shared content with his or her Facebook friends or connections though a third-party website that is integrated with Facebook,on a given day the overall numbers for Facebook increased 48 per cent to 483 million on average during December 2011. The key markets where daily users surged were Brazil,Canada,Germany,Mexico,the United Kingdom,and the United States,with increased mobile usage being attributed as a key contributor to this growth. DAUs,as a percentage of MAUs,increased from 54 per cent in December 2010 to 57 per cent in December 2011,Facebook reported in its regulatory filing ahead of its public offering later this year.

We continue to focus on growing our user base across all geographies,including relatively less-penetrated,large markets such as Brazil,Germany,India,Japan,Russia,and South Korea. We intend to grow our user base by continuing our marketing and user acquisition efforts and enhancing our products,including mobile apps,in order to make Facebook more accessible and useful, it said.

The websites penetration figures showed up some surprises,with 20 to 30 per cent of internet users in Brazil,Germany and India logging onto the website each month. In comparison,penetration rates were around 60 per cent in the UK and the US and 80 per cent in Chile,Turkey and Venezuela. The online social network is also less popular where English is less widely spoken. Just 15 per cent of internet users in Japan,Russia and South Korea logged on at least once a month. In China,which restricts access to the website,Facebook has penetration near zero per cent.