Japanese surfers are sporty

It could be as simple as a holdover from the Olympics, but Japanese surfers are increasingly turning to online outlets to get their sports fix. According to a recent comScore report sports sites saw a 17% increase in traffic from Japanese visitors from July to August.

by Kristina Knight

"The Internet's ability to provide real time information was a valuable resource for those seeking the latest results of their favorite [Olympic] competitors. . .or popular events such as judo or baseball," said Maru Sato, managing director of comScore Japan.

In addition to sports sites, surfers are also interested in travel as the Japanese vacation season rapidly approaches. In the Travel: Ground/Cruise category, a 24% traffic increase was seen while in the Travel: Transactions category, traffic increased by 20%.

What does this mean for marketers? Although the spike in sports traffic could be Olympic related, it is also a sign that Japanese consumers want more real time information when it comes to sporting events. This could become a great opportunity for marketers trying to harness the buying power of Japanese consumers. The same can be said for travel advertising. As consumers look for the best buys or plan future trips, contextually targeted ads on travel sites will be a good way to engage the consumer with different vacation destinations or deals.