Holiday Festivity Drove Web Activity in December, According to Comscore MMX Top 50 Online Property Ranking

RESTON, Va., Jan. 17, 2005 – Comscore MMX today released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories. As expected, holiday-related content dominated December traffic, with seasonal sites accounting for 8 of the top 10 gaining properties and 9 of the top 10 gaining categories.

“More than 132 million consumers – an extraordinary four out of every five online consumers in the country – visited retail sites and resources in December,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “Whether shopping online, sending e-cards or tracking packages, vast numbers of Americans turned to the Web to help make the holidays a lot more fun and a little less hectic.”

E-Mail-Fueled Rumor Drives Millions to DoNotCall.gov
The month’s top gaining property (see table 1) was actually not specifically related to the holiday season and also served as a reminder of the viral communication power of the Web. In December, millions of Americans received (and frequently forwarded) an e-mail falsely claiming that telemarketers would soon begin calling cell phone numbers that were not added to the federal Do Not Call list. As a result, more than 7 million people visited DoNotCall.gov in December – an increase of more than 300 percent compared to November.

Holiday-Related Visitation Dominates December Web Activity
With Americans shifting more of their shopping time and dollars to the Web, five of the top 10 gaining categories in December were Retail subcategories (see table 2). The fastest growing Retail subcategory, Jewelry, Luxury Goods & Accessories, jumped 30 percent from November to December and 15 percent over the prior year. Coach.com, BlueNile.com and Zales.com were standouts, each growing 70 percent or more over November visitor levels.

Driven upward by traditional “brick and mortar” retailers’ sites, the Department Stores category continued its ascent in December with a 20-percent jump over November. Category leader Walmart.com saw an increase of 37 percent, almost twice that of the category. With 32 million visitors in December, Walmart.com was the third-largest retail property online, behind eBay and Amazon. While every major site in the Department Stores category increased, growth leaders included Kmart (up 49 percent), May Department Stores (42 percent) and Federated Department Stores (35 percent).

An expected pickup in visitation to e-card sites boosted both the e-Cards and Flowers, Gifts & Greetings categories. As the tradition of paper gives way to the convenience of the Web, nearly 48 million Americans visited e-Card sites to send or view virtual holiday cards in December. The Flowers, Gifts & Greetings category shot up 20 percent as sites such as RedEnvelope.com, Proflowers.com and HarryandDavid.com saw substantial growth in December. 1-800-Flowers jumped 44 percent between November and December, enough to be included in this month’s top gaining properties ranking.

Anxious gift givers tracking holiday presents boosted the Shipping category 31 percent in December. Nearly 28 million people visited sites in the category, up from 21 million in November. The two largest Shipping category sites, UPS Sites and USPS.com, both made the top gaining properties ranking this month, with increases of 49 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

Deal-hungry shoppers visited the Coupons category in droves in December. The category, which is comprised primarily of sites such as CouponMountain.com and Dealsdujour.com, drew 22 million visitors in December.

Top 50 Properties
Among sites in both November and December’s Top 50 Properties, AmericanGreetings Property had the largest jump, moving up 9 spots to number 29. Coupled with a 12-spot gain from October to November, AmericanGreetings shot up 21 spots and attracted 61 percent more unique visitors over the last two months, bolstered by the holiday e-card rush. JC Penney Sites and Sprint both posted 9-spot gains to move into the Top 50 at number 45 and 49, respectively (see table 3).

Holiday-induced traffic powered increases at a number of other retail sites; Dell (December’s number 33), Wal-Mart (number 9) and Overstock.com (number 26) gained 8, 6 and 5 spots, respectively. Customers logging in to check credit cards and bank balances drained from holiday spending drove the JPMorgan Chase Property up 7 spots to number 40. Finally, bolstered by the immense popularity of the iPod as a holiday gift and a 28-percent increase in traffic to the iTunes portion of its site, Apple Computer, Inc. gained 5 spots to crack the Top 50 at number 48.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Comscore MMX’s ranking of advertising-supported media brands includes media properties, such as Yahoo! and MSN, as well as advertising networks, such as Advertising.com and TribalFusion. Instead of focusing on corporate ownership, this reporting mirrors, as closely as possible, the manner in which advertising is actually packaged and sold. With this ranking, media planners and buyers can more easily evaluate interactive marketing options on an equal footing.

Advertising.com and Yahoo! claimed the top 2 spots in the Ad Focus ranking, as they have in every month since May 2004 (see table 4). Fastclick debuted at number 3 in December’s Ad Focus ranking, while eBay.com moved 1 spot to claim the final spot in the top 10. Weather.com moved 3 spots to number 22, bolstered in part by visitors seeking information about the devastating tsunami and volatile weather in California.

TABLE 1

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*
December 2004 vs. November 2004
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Nov-04 (000)

Dec-04 (000)

Percentage Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet Population

159,736

161,142

1%

N/A

DONOTCALL.GOV

1,778

7,416

317%

92

KB Toys

3,236

4,969

54%

147

RADIOSHACK.COM

2,052

3,142

53%

245

Limitedbrands

4,566

6,850

50%

104

Deutsche Telekom

4,630

6,920

49%

102

UPS Sites

9,446

14,057

49%

39

Drugstore.Com, Inc.

2,878

4,259

48%

176

GSI Network

8,039

11,836

47%

57

1-800-Flowers

2,287

3,283

44%

234

USPS.COM

8,357

11,640

39%

59

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December

TABLE 2

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors
December 2004 vs. November 2004
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Nov-04 (000)

Dec-04 (000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Population

159,736

161,142

1%

Services - Shipping

21,241

27,867

31%

Retail - Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories

13,014

16,983

30%

Retail - Sports/Outdoor

20,159

24,554

22%

Services - e-cards

39,540

47,784

21%

Retail - Department Stores

47,937

57,759

20%

Retail - Flowers/Gifts/Greetings

32,949

39,535

20%

Retail - Toys

21,861

25,949

19%

Business/Financial - Taxes

5,302

6,145

16%

Health - Pharmacy

11,983

13,672

14%

Services - Coupons

19,519

22,217

14%

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties
December 2004
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Total Internet Users

161,142

1

Yahoo! Sites

119,454

26

OVERSTOCK.COM

18,178

2

Time Warner Network

114,930

27

Intermix Media

17,938

3

MSN-Microsoft Sites

113,506

28

Shopzilla.com Sites

17,169

4

Google Sites

71,660

29

AmericanGreetings Property

17,118

5

eBay

66,511

30

Expedia Travel

16,972

6

Amazon Sites

48,216

31

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

16,930

7

Ask Jeeves

41,411

32

Bank of America

16,656

8

About/Primedia

38,374

33

Dell

16,162

9

Wal-Mart

33,951

34

Gannett Sites

15,882

10

Symantec

33,929

35

Sony Online

15,646

11

Viacom Online

33,595

36

Sears Sites

15,484

12

CNET Networks

29,523

37

ORBITZ.COM

15,348

13

Verizon Communications Corporation

29,202

38

ESPN Network

14,813

14

Lycos, Inc.

28,891

39

UPS Sites

14,057

15

Weather Channel, The

28,243

40

JPMorgan Chase Property

13,554

16

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

27,875

41

Classmates.com Sites

13,480

17

Monster Worldwide

26,525

42

NFL Internet Group

13,165

18

AT&T Properties

26,242

43

SBC Communications

13,138

19

Shopping.com Sites

25,344

44

Comcast Corporation

13,077

20

Real.com Network

22,337

45

JCPenney Sites

12,818

21

Target Corporation

21,898

46

E.W. Scripps

12,654

22

InfoSpace Network

20,804

47

Macromedia

12,648

23

Gorilla Nation Media

19,875

48

Apple Computer, Inc.

12,611

24

Weatherbug.com Property

19,676

49

Sprint

12,611

25

Best Buy Sites

18,461

50

Cox Enterprises Inc.

12,432

TABLE 4

Ad Focus Ranking
Unique Visitors (000)
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
December 2004
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

161,142

100%

1

Advertising.com**

123,956

77%

26

CNN

21,721

13%

2

Yahoo!

117,983

73%

27

MSNBC

21,721

13%

3

Fastclick**

113,929

71%

28

GATOR (App)

21,575

13%

4

MSN

100,031

62%

29

WeatherBug

19,394

12%

5

TrafficMarketplace**

91,189

57%

30

REAL.COM

18,043

11%

6

AOL

87,315

54%

31

Netscape

17,658

11%

7

Casale Media Network**

79,464

49%

32

Expedia Travel

16,972

11%

8

YAHOO.COM Home Page

75,449

47%

33

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

16,930

11%

9

GOOGLE.COM

69,359

43%

34

Disney Online

16,569

10%

10

EBAY.COM

63,667

40%

35

SuperPages Network

16,238

10%

11

Tribal Fusion**

63,446

39%

36

ORBITZ.COM

15,348

10%

12

ValueClick Media**

59,401

37%

37

BIZRATE.COM

15,003

9%

13

MSN.COM Home Page

51,678

32%

38

ESPN Network

14,813

9%

14

24/7 Real Media**

43,310

27%

39

EA Online Syndicated Games

14,278

9%

15

BURST! Media**

41,751

26%

40

CLASSMATES.COM

13,480

8%

16

Ask Jeeves

41,411

26%

41

MONSTER.COM

13,319

8%

17

EBAY.COM Home Page

39,556

25%

42

CareerBuilder Network

12,945

8%

18

Vendare Group Search-New.Net Sites

36,112

22%

43

Travelocity All

12,560

8%

19

MAPQUEST.COM

34,274

21%

44

INFOSPACE.COM

11,705

7%

20

Lycos Network

28,797

18%

45

EA Online Games

11,476

7%

21

ClickAgents Network**

28,775

18%

46

WebMD Medscape Health Network

11,101

7%

22

WEATHER.COM

27,049

17%

47

IMDB.COM

10,889

7%

23

ABOUT.COM

24,369

15%

48

EARTHLINK.NET

10,341

6%

24

CNET

23,768

15%

49

GO.COM

10,112

6%

25

MaxOnline**

23,743

15%

50

LAUNCH.COM Home Page

9,751

6%

**Indicates that the entity is an advertising network.

About Comscore MMX
Comscore MMX, a division of Comscore Networks, provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report – with unmatched accuracy - details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. Comscore MMX continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its MMX syndicated Internet ratings - long recognized as the currency in online media measurement among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers - while drawing upon Comscore's advanced technologies to address important new industry requirements. All Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About Comscore Networks
Comscore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its patent-pending technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com