Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc.[2] The service is designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. The website is named after its creator, Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten
Although Orkut is less popular in the United States than competitors Facebook and MySpace, it is one of the most visited websites in India and Brazil.[3] In fact, as of December 2009, 51.09% of Orkut's users are from Brazil, followed by India with 20.02% and United States with 17.28%.[4]
Originally hosted in California, in August 2008 Google announced that Orkut would be fully managed and operated in Brazil, by Google Brazil, in the city of Belo Horizonte. This was decided due to the large Brazilian user base and growth of legal issues.[5][6][7][8]
As of February 2010, Alexa traffic ranked Orkut 57th in the world; the website currently has more than 100 million active users worldwide.[