WebProNews

comScore released a couple of interesting reports today. The first involves the social networking landscape in Europe. According to comScore, France in particular had a big year when it comes to social networking, growing by 45% with Facebook as the leading network.

"2008 was a significant year for social networking in France," said Mike Read, SVP and Managing Director of comScore, Europe. "Not only was it a year that saw significant growth, but it was also a period in which Facebook took the category by storm after translating its interface into French early in the year. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2009 as Facebook and native social network, Skyrock, battle for the top position in the French market.

The second report from comScore looked at social networking in India, and found that global brands gained prominence in the market in 2008, with Orkut coming out on top as the most visited social network in the country.

"Social networking continued to grow strongly in India this past year, with several of the top global brands carving out a more prominent position," said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president. "While there is certainly room for several players in the social networking space in India, the sites that have the right blend of having both a strong brand and cultural relevance will be best positioned for future growth."

On a related note, MarketingSherpa has released a chart based on a survey conducted in December that shows the effectiveness of social media marketing as it pertains to a variety of branding and direct marketing categories. It's certainly one to look at for skeptics of social media for business.