Everyone knows that the Internet is the growing medium worldwide, but the online penetration and reach varies depending on the country. For example, China and the United States reach the highest amount of Internet users, but England and South Korea have the highest penetration. According to the Mexican Association of the Internet (AMIPCI), Mexico has 30,600,000 Internet users, with a penetration of 32.5% of the country. The evolution of communication tools and applications has increased the amount of Internet users in Mexico. After Brazil, Mexico's IT market is the second largest in Latin America. According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Mexico took the 29th position among 30 of the most developed countries in terms of Internet access speed and cost. Today, the technology is even better than what it was three years ago, and this gives marketers more opportunities to reach the Mexican market.

AMIPCI conducted an Mexican Internet usage study in 2009 that showed that 37% of urban homes have at least one personal computer. The study also noted that Internet users have a higher probability of having an executive/professional position than the average worker. Penetration within the socioeconomic levels ABC+ had the highest increase when comparing 2008 to 2009, indicating that 7 out 10 in that level were Internet users. When analyzing the top social reasons why people use the Internet in Mexico, it was found that 75% of the users connect to send and receive emails, followed by 59% who said their priority is connecting to use messenger. The average time someone connects online on a daily basis is 3 hours and 21 minutes, generally Monday through Friday.

The Internet Advertising Bureau of Mexico released a report conducted by Millward Brown that shows a higher acceptance of technology in recent years, including the increase of smartphones. As has happened all over the world, the Internet has become the vehicle of choice in Mexico to research all sorts of information: 9 out of 10 internet users search for brands, products and services. When comparing the tools that are used for their searches, 79% use Google, Yahoo, or Bing and 68% go directly to the brands' websites. In addition, the boom of social networks has spread to Mexico in the past two years: now, more than 70% of Internet users are registered on at least one network. Facebook, Windows Live Profile, and hi5 are the top social networks in Mexico.

For more information about how to reach the Mexican market online, contact your US Media Consulting representative at 305-722-5500.

Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/mx.htm; AMIPCI study:'Estudio AMIPCI 2009 Sobre habitos de los Usuarios de Internet en Mexico' http://www.amipci.org.mx/estudios; 'Estudio de consumo de medios digitales en Mexico'- November 2009-Executed by Millward Brown Mexico;