Are nations so different as they access the internet?

Abstract: This study analyzed the existence of a common prominence in the audience of websites in different groups of countries aiming at discover whether there is some kind of preferential pattern of access, regardless of the variety of endogenous and exogenous influences that might interfere in the audience of these portals. To appraise the overall popularity of websites, the study developed a Virtual Popularity Index – VPI and applied it with data obtained at the website Alexa (www.alexa.com) which provides information about the access to different electronic portals. This information includes traffic, origin and access duration. Thus, through the development and use of this Index as applied to a sample of 2500 observations covering the 20 most visited websites in 125 countries, it was possible to identify that the first eight most accessed websites are the same in the African, American, Asian and European continents. The study also revealed that certain websites analyzed in different continents were able to reach an audience hegemony overcoming any barriers adopted by the users via the possibility of individual content customization