The U.S. Hispanic online audience climbed 50 percent faster than the overall Hispanic population in the past year, according to a new study by comScore, a global Internet information provider. The online Hispanic audience in February hit 20.3 million, up 6 percent from a year ago. It now accounts for 11 percent of the total U.S. online market.

“It’s well-known that the Hispanic market is a growing and increasingly important segment to advertisers and marketers,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “However, any business attempting to effectively reach this segment needs to understand the behavior of the U.S. Hispanic online consumer as a fundamental component of their marketing and media strategies.”

Hispanics also outpaced the general Internet population in growth in total minutes spent online, total pages viewed and total visits. Entertainment and community sites are strong draws for Hispanics. The single most popular category in terms of time spent was teen community sites, which attracted 18 percent of U.S. Hispanics.

Since the U.S. Hispanic population skews young, it wasn’t surprising that teen-focused sites would be the top category in time spent, said Alicia Morga, CEO of Consorte Media, a digital marketing firm focusing on the Hispanic market. She noted that social networking site hi5 is among the most popular for U.S. Hispanic users.

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