More than 28 million people in India (age 15 and older) accessed the Internet from home and work in May marking a 27% increase over the same period a year ago, according to comScore.

Since Internet users in India represent only 3% of the population there is significant potential for continued strong growth.

According to comScore executive VP Jack Flanagan:

India truly represents one of the most promising emerging Internet markets, given both the size and technological sophistication of the population. While global Internet brands like Google and Yahoo! currently reign as the most visited Web properties in India, several local players also have strong positions in the market.

Other findings from the comScore study include:

– Average Indian Internet user visited the Internet 25 times during the month and was online for 28 minutes per visit.

– Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest Internet users among all age segments. They spent nearly 12 hours online per month on average.

– Some of the fastest growing Web site categories during the past year included Maps (up 64%), Sports (up 60%), Entertainment — Movies (up 55%), and Finance — News/Research (up 52%).

Top 15 Web Properties in India Ranked by Unique Visitors
May 2008 vs. May 2007
Total India – Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*

  Properties Total Unique Visitors (000)

                              May-07  May-08   % Change

Total Internet : Total Audience  22,805 28,886  27

Google Sites 14,597 19,746  35

Yahoo! Sites  14,664 18,704  28

Microsoft Sites  10,800 11,980 11

Rediff.com 7,740 9,246 19

AOL LLC  N/A 6,325  N/A

NIC.IN 5,675  5,953  5

Times Internet  5,002 5,948 19

Wikipedia Sites  4,353 5,264  21

Naukri  3,295 5,105  55

eBay   4,204 5,020    19

Indian Railways  N/A  4,454 N/A

CNET Networks  3,194 3,841 20

Ask Network  3,155  3,444 9

BharatMatrimony.com   2,336 3,420 46

Monster Worldwide  2,854 3,301 16

*Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs
Source: comScore World Metrix