I am extremely excited to share with you our announcement from earlier today that comScore has just introduced Video Metrix 2.0, the next generation of our industry leading online video measurement product. comScore was the first company to introduce online video measurement about 5 years ago and to say that the online video landscape has changed since that time would be an understatement! YouTube was still barely a blip on the video radar and Hulu wasn’t even a figment of someone’s imagination…

But here we are today, 5 years later, and online video has become a massive media channel in its own right. 180 million people in the U.S. watch online video for an average of 13 hours each month. And what was once a huge repository of primarily user-generated content video has now evolved to become a secondary (or in some cases, primary) channel for viewing professionally produced long form content like movies and TV episodes. In a recent study about the interplay between TV and online viewing of TV programming, we learned that online video typically adds an incremental 6% to the size of a TV audience for original scripted programming. That incremental viewing audience is even greater among 18-24 year olds (13%) and 25-39 year olds (9%).

As online video has evolved, so too has its ability to monetize through advertising. When we first began measuring this medium, video ads were virtually non-existent but today they account for about 12% of the total number of videos viewed online. As this shift occurred, comScore recognized it was time to rethink the way we were measuring online video in a way that not only accounted for ads and monetization rates, but also in a way that makes online video more directly comparable with TV.

So with Video Metrix 2.0, you are going to see a different look in how we present this data to better conform to the new web video paradigm. Among the innovations available are the ability to segment between online video content and ads, several new reporting metrics to better evaluate video ads and their reach and engagement within video audiences, and TV-show level reporting. Our new ad reporting will also help advertisers understand which of the sites featuring predominantly long-format content are monetizing most successfully and reaching audiences with video ads throughout their programming. Below is a view of the average number of video ads delivered over the course of June to viewers on the site:

We will also have the ability to provide show-level reporting for the major TV broadcast sites. Below are the June rankings of top shows being viewed online ranked by number of viewers for ABC.com, CBS.com and NBC.com. (Please note that these figures represent viewing during TV’s summer hiatus, and online audiences should surge as fresh episodes hit the air this fall.)

We hope you are as excited about these enhancements as we are, and we look forward to continuing to bringing you the most detailed, accurate and innovative online video measurement in the industry!

Note: Video ads include streaming video-advertising only and do not include other types of video monetization, such as overlays, branded players, matching banner ads, homepage ads, etc.

World Cup interest continued to intensify around the globe through the end of June. Traffic to FIFA.com reached a global high on Tuesday, June 22 as the end of group play revealed which teams would advance to the next round. More than 8.7 million people visited the official World Cup destination that day, representing 1.3% of the entire global Internet audience.

Interest in the World Cup, using visitation to FIFA.com as a proxy, grew significantly across each global region during the month of June. Latin America posted the strongest regional penetration relative to the rest of the world at 6.5% for the week ending June 27, followed by the Middle East – Africa at 5.6%. Europe reached 3.8% penetration, followed by North America at 2.9% and Asia Pacific at 1.6%.

An analysis of the 40+ individual countries currently reported by comScore showed that countries in South America showed the strongest relative visitation to FIFA.com for the week ending June 27. Chile had the highest market penetration with nearly 11% of online users in the country visiting FIFA.com during the week, followed by Argentina at 9.2%. Even without teams in the tournament, Colombia and Venezuela both posted penetration levels above 9%. World Cup host country South Africa ranked fifth at 8.3%, while Portugal had the highest penetration among European markets at 7.5%. New Zealand topped the list for the Asia-Pacific region at 7.3 percent with their June 24 match against Paraguay driving New Zealanders to the site. The U.S. witnessed a 2.4-percent reach (its highest weekly penetration of the entire World Cup) as it topped Algeria to advance to the next round of play.

For continued coverage of Internet trends throughout the 2010 World Cup, visit the comScore Voices blog or @comscore for additional updates.

Today, comScore announced the acquisition of the products division of mobile network analytics provider Nexius, Inc., called the Xplore product suite. I want to offer a few thoughts on why we are so excited about this news.

At comScore, we have a long history of providing customized solutions for key industry verticals, such as media companies, advertisers, CPG and financial services. In recent years, telecommunications companies – and the wireless operators in particular – have been an important source of growth for us. In the U.S. alone, the wireless industry represents more than $150 billion in annual revenue, a number that has tripled over the past decade. It is a massive market that is poised for continued expansion.

However, wireless operators all over the world face a fiercely competitive and highly fluid environment. There are a host of infrastructure challenges that vary by country, and they must deal in real-time with a broad set of technical, performance and customer-facing challenges to secure their fair share of this growth. The explosion of voice and data usage in the last several years has resulted in internal data challenges that are orders of magnitude greater than what they were just 3 years ago. Tools that enable network performance metrics that can be used by management to make better decisions about network expansion and to monitor and respond to customer experience are tantamount. Once acquired, keeping customers is the name of the game.

This is where the Nexius Xplore solution comes in. This offering consists of an innovative suite of analytical products that provide the mission critical insights needed to help mobile operators compete in these areas. Products built on the Xplore platform enable network operators to manage the influx of data, and use it to enhance operational efficiencies and reduce customer churn.

This acquisition represents an important phase in the series of steps comScore has undertaken to deliver value to this key industry vertical. Our 2008 acquisition of M:Metrics gave us the ability to measure mobile media usage and other mobile consumer dynamics, providing us with a front row seat for the emergence of this rapidly developing medium. Our recent partnership with the GSMA in the U.K. has provided us with key insights and understanding of the operators at a census level. The acquisition of the Nexius Xplore platform now allows us to deepen our relationships with operators even further and engage with them internally at the network level to help them solve some of their most important data management, analytical, and CRM challenges. We are confident that this acquisition will strengthen comScore’s position in the mobile marketplace through expanded product offerings.

Operationally, this acquisition presents several areas of synergy. First, comScore has the ability to leverage its global footprint to scale the Xplore product suite across its existing international markets. In addition, the Nexius Xplore team also has international offices in the Middle East and Eastern Europe that will enable comScore to expand existing services into new international markets.

We also see this acquisition as a strong cultural fit, with both companies possessing a similar DNA as entrepreneurial companies known for their technological leadership and spirit of innovation. Bringing Xplore into the comScore tent will enable us to provide an even broader set of solutions and resources to help our clients measure the changing dynamics of the wireless ecosystem. Foremost among these resources is the exceptional talent Nexius brings with them. Nabil Taleb (Nexius CEO) will join the comScore senior management team and will be named EVP of comScore Wireless Solutions, bringing with him a team of wireless industry veterans that understand the needs and challenges of network operators.

On behalf of the entire comScore team, we welcome the Nexius Xplore team and look forward to the continued growth of our wireless business.

With World Cup play well underway, fans across the globe are paying close attention to their national teams and watching highly-anticipated matches between the best squads in the world. On Friday, June 11, the official opening day of the World Cup, global Internet penetration of FIFA.com reached its highest level thus far, with 7.6 million unique visitors, or 1.2% of the global Internet audience, visiting the site as fans checked out the schedules of the early round matches.

Geographical differences in visitation to FIFA.com suggest varying levels of interest in the World Cup depending on one’s corner of the globe. The Middle East-Africa (2.5% penetration) and Latin America (2.3% penetration) exhibited the highest relative visitation to FIFA.com, well outpacing the global average of 1.2%. Europe followed with 1.3% penetration, while North America (1.0% penetration) and Asia Pacific (0.5% penetration) ranked below the global average. In absolute terms, Europe accounted for the greatest number of FIFA.com visitors on opening day at 2.6 million.

One of the highest profile matches of opening weekend was the USA vs. England game, which ended in a draw (to the dismay of many England fans). However, both nations had their heaviest visitation to FIFA.com on the opening day of the tournament, which was a Friday workday, one day prior to their actual game, which was played on Saturday June 12. Although the U.S. had more absolute traffic to the site with 1.3 million visitors on June 11, (0.9% of total Internet audience), the U.K. showed higher site reach at 2.1%, or about 538,000 visitors.

As teams face elimination and matches continue to intensify, we expect to see regional and country-specific visitation to FIFA.com to reflect the success of local teams. For continued coverage of Internet trends throughout the 2010 World Cup, visit the comScore Voices blog or @comscore for additional updates!

Earlier this week Alejandro Fosk, senior vice president of comScore Latin America, presented the State of the Internet in Latin America, which provided a look at recent region and market trends in this dynamic and growing part of the world.

Although the webinar was presented in Spanish, we wanted to offer those of you who don’t speak the language an opportunity to download the presentation in English as well as Spanish.

We also wanted to provide a brief summary of some of the highlights of the data in this blog post.

In April 2010, Latin America accounted for 8 percent of the total global online population. Although this represents a relatively small portion of the world’s online audience, Latin America was the fastest-growing region during the past year – climbing 22 percent from April 2009 – as an increase in broadband penetration helped drive more people online. Latin Americans also displayed strong online engagement, averaging 27 hours online during April, consuming more than 2,000 pages of content and frequenting the Internet an average of 52 times during the month. Latin Americans’ reported the highest search intensity out of the five global regions, with an average searcher performing 141 queries a month.

A look across the individual markets in the region that comScore currently reports revealed that all markets experienced a double-digit online population increase during the past year. Brazil, the region’s largest market, grew 19 percent to reach 35.3 million users, while Mexico experienced a 20-percent increase to 15.7 million users. Colombia witnessed the strongest growth with its audience surging 37 percent to reach 10.8 million people, while Argentina climbed 22 percent to 12.7 million users.

From Mexico to Chile, we expect Internet usage in the region to continue to grow for the foreseeable future, presenting local and global brands with the opportunity to reach and engage these active, online audiences. Stay tuned for more insights into Latin America throughout the coming months as comScore continues to provide insights into digital media consumption across the globe.