Brazil vs. Britain
February 17th, 2009
Online Search Differences and Similarities
By Rafael Ribeiro, Search Team Brazil
At first glance, one would think the numbers say it all: 60 percent of the United Kingdom is online while only 25 percent of Brazil is.
But consider that Brazil has 190 million people, while Britain a mere 61 million, and the tables turn. There are over 10 million more Brazilians online than British, with a massive potential for growth.
International Marketers, Take Note
The average Brazilian spends 19 hours a week surfing, while 14 suffice for Britons. Volumes aside, however, what is important to ask is what the citizens of Latin America’s most influential country do on the web.
Brazilians and Brits differ in their online search behaviour.
Travel and Tourism
Travel and tourism seems popular in both nations (48 percent of Brazilians search for such terms while the British lead with 60 percent).
Online banking
When it comes to banking, Brits take the lead. While 76 percent of the UK use internet banking, the habit is extremely unpopular in Brazil due to the fear of fraud which, surprisingly enough, has affected only nine percent of Brazilians whilst 11 percent of Britons.
Social Networking
Social networking was another divisive issue. While three-quarters of Brazilians visit community websites (the main ones being Orkut, Sonico and MySpace), only slightly over a third of Britons visit Facebook and MySpace regularly.
However, both countries take the lead in their respective continents for social networking.
Online Dating
Another similarity is that both countries are all for online dating. Some research show Brazilians access the internet mostly to date while Britons aren’t far behind, with 90 percent even spending up to £200 on such websites.
* Figures in relation to internet users in Brazil and UK, not of total population figures.
**Information taken from a variety of Brazilian news sources. Contact for details.
